Ponies Without a Clue
by GeekCat
Summary: Six ponies are invited to a dinner party at a mansion to discuss a "painful financial situation" between them and the mysterious "QC". Bad quickly goes to worse as dark magic is used, and the ponies need to figure out the criminal before the Royal Guard arrives. Based on the 1985 film Clue.
1. Introducing the Guests

A grey unicorn stallion with a black mane and green eyes approached a large, foreboding mansion. A crash of thunder came from the overcast sky, and he hurried on, not wanting to get caught in the rain. One could catch a glimpse of his cutie mark underneath his crisp suit as he walked past large, skeletal trees. It was a ring of golden keys.

The ring of keys on his mark matched the ones he levitated out of his inner jacket. He unlocked the large iron gate that stood before him, leaving it open as he continued through the grounds, knowing the ponies following had no such keys.

He readied a large rawhide bone for the guard dogs, who looked totally normal, aside from their bright red noses. They snarled and snapped, almost ripping his suit sleeve. He quickly tossed the bone to appease them, unlocking the front doors of the mansion as he did so.

He hurried through, not wanting to be around those beasts any longer. The mansion, grim on the outside, was warm and well-lit within. And deeper in, in another room, he could hear cheery party music playing. He went towards it.

He came to the Library, where a pink unicorn with purple, poofy hair was singing and dancing to the happy tune as she polished glasses and poured soda. A phonograph played next to platters of sugary desserts. The stallion used his magic to lift the needle off of the phonograph. At the stop in music, the mare whirled around.

"Is everything ready, Sugar Belle?" "Yes, Key Keeper, sir," she replied. "Good. And you remember your instructions?" Sugar Belle nodded. "Excellent. Ah, out guests will arrive any time now, so please, no more music." Another nod, a reluctant one, from Sugar Belle.

Key Keeper left, and headed towards the kitchen. Inside, an earth pony mare with an off-white coat and blue mane was slicing something on a cutting board. "Everything alright, Miss Pommel?" The mare turned around, answering, "Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes." Key Keeper nodded and left, leaving Pommel to go back to chopping.

The doorbell rang through the house, and Key Keeper hurried to the door. The bell continued to clang loudly. Unlocking and opening the door, he found a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane shuffling impatiently, glaring suspiciously at the chained dogs. "Thank Celestia!," she cried. "Those dogs were growling at me the whole time- I thought they were gonna eat me!"

"No need to worry, ma'am," replied Key Keeper curtly, "They are specially bred. They will only attack those who 'smell' untrustworthy. I presume you are Rainbow Dash?" The mare huffed. "Yeah, that's me. What's this whole party about, anyway?" She flew upside down, following Key Keeper. "And with all this secrecy, couldn't we use sueda…sa-da…"

"Pseudonyms." "Yeah, those."

Key Keeper smiled. "This matter is about unveiling secrets. Why add more?" Rainbow looked uncomfortable, but switched her attention to the room Key had led her to. Books were shelved on every wall, from floor to ceiling. There were even shelves carved into the doors. "That's a lot of books," she stated redundantly.

Key gestured to the mare preparing glasses. "Rainbow Dash, this is Sugar Belle. Feel free to help yourself to some drinks or snacks." And with that, he closed the doors and left. Rainbow turned to Sugar Belle and smiled. "What have you got?"

Once again, the bell rang. Key trotted towards, it, once again unlocking and opening it. Standing outside was a pony- it was impossible to see their features, for they were covered in a faded yellow raincoat, with the hood up, and wore worn, brown rain boots. "Do come in, madam," said Key with a bow, "You are expected."

The pony stepped in and threw back their hood, revealing themselves to have an orange coat, golden mane, and emerald eyes. She whipped her ponytail out from where it was tucked into her coat. She began to unceremoniously kick off her boots. "Hoo! I was expecting it to rain that whole time I was walking, but I guess not!"

Key wrinkled his nose slightly, levitating the muddy boots off of the Hall floor and placing them in the closet. "You are Applejack, I presume?" He lifted the raincoat off of her shoulders with his magic, placing it in the closet as well. She held on to her worn hat as he tried to take it, though.

She nodded. "Yep. The letter," she reached into the pocket of the raincoat before he could close the door, "made this sound pretty important." Key nodded, biting his tongue at the crumpled mess of a letter she had produced.

"Indeed. We'll get to that shortly, but first, we must wait for the other guests." And so he led her to the library. "So who are you?" "I'm Key Keeper, ma'am. The butler." "And what does that mean?" "I keep everything in his household neat and tidy. Organized."

They came through the door, squashing Rainbow with the door. Key Keeper gestured to Sugar Belle again, saying, "Applejack, this is Sugar Belle, and," he pointed to the annoyed mare, "that is Rainbow Dash." When he looked back, Applejack was glaring at Sugar Belle, who was very focused on mixing sodas and perfectly organizing snacks.

But once he blinked, Applejack was smiling again as Sugar Belle offered her, and the escaped Rainbow, a fluffy, sugary pastry. Key Keeper left the room, closing the doors behind him, and reading the key ring, this time ready at the door for his next guest.

* * *

Twilight was walking quickly along the road, making notes in her small black journal about ideas for experiments, and how this current, gloomy weather could be used to her advantage. Sometimes she wished she had wings- she could travel faster (she was still testing whether the time to energy saved ratio made teleportation worth it), and perhaps collect cloud samples easily.

But she could never trade unicorn magic for pegasus flight- in the end, all of the studies and books and samples and lectures- it all came down to magic. Being an alicorn- why, it was heretical to think it! As much as it would help, she hadn't discovered anything to make her worthy of Princesshood. _Not yet, anyway._

Twilight slowed down as she heard grunting. As she came over the hill, she found a large, pink, glittery wagon stuck in a large mud puddle. From the front, she could hear grunting, and as she passed the puddle, she saw it was a pink earth pony, trying to pull the wagon out.

Twilight could she that all this was doing was digging the wagon deeper into the muddy ground. Sighing, she lifted the wagon out of the mud using her telekinesis. "Honestly," she huffed to the earth pony, "did you think sheer force would free it?" The pony shrugged. "Eh, it worked on the last 7.3 puddles."

Twilight blinked. "How can there be 0.3…" she shook her head. "Anyway, here's your wagon." She strapped it back to the brightly pastel pony. "I have to go, I'm late for a dinner date." "Hey, me too!," squeaked the earth pony. "It was something about finances and pain and a spooky mansion…"

Twilight gave the pony (who was now trotting beside her) a look. "That sounds like my dinner party…if you only skimmed the letter…and exaggerated about the mansion." Her companion shrugged. "I guess I did skim it, but I'm not kidding about the mansion." She pointed a hoof to the mansion on a hill they were quickly coming closer too, and lightning struck to light it as a scary violin chord was played.

She looked back to comment something along the lines of, _Yeah, that is a spooky mansion_ , and saw the wagon-hauling pony with a violin in her hooves. "You like the music? I mean, I have to say, the special effects are great today." She sat on her haunches and looked up to the sky, shouting "You go, Nature!" She smiled at Twilight, "I'm Pinkie Pie, by the way. Nice to meet you, Twilight!," and shook her hoof violently. She then skipped and bounced on ahead, humming a happy tune.

Twilight stood stunned for awhile, before running off after Pinkie, shouting interrogations on how she knew her name, and lectures on how lightning was the product of weather pegasi, not whatever that 'Nature' was.

* * *

"Allow me to introduce Mrs. Rarity Dapperpaws," called Key Keeper. The ponies in the Library turned to look. Rainbow and Applejack had been holding a drinking contest, chugging down glasses of apple cider, while poor Sugar Belle was rushing to pour enough glasses to keep up with the thirsty mares.

The unicorn who had entered had a white coat and purple mane. She wore an elaborate purple dress with gold trimmings, with gold shoes set with amethyst to match. She levitated her lavender parasol to Key Keeper. "Thank you, and could you put this in a closet, darling? I brought it to be practical, but I suppose it wasn't needed."

Rainbow and Applejack had to suppress a laugh when she mentioned practicality. Rarity came over to Sugar Belle, "What is available to drink?" Sugar Belle pointed out different soda bottles. "I have cream soda, chocolate soda, orange soda, grape soda, lemon soda…" Rarity wrinkled her nose. "Anything that isn't soda?" "Well, we have apple cider…"

She turned to find Rainbow Dash draining the rest of the gallon, with Applejack reluctantly forking the bits over to her. "Had. We had apple cider," Sugar Belle corrected herself. Rarity scrunched her nose, holding her hoof to her chin in thought. "Could I just get a glass of ice water?" "Okay!," chirped Sugar Belle, grabbing a glass and leaving the room to find a faucet.

Rarity put on a dazzling smile at turned to her companions. "Who might you two be?" Simple introductions were given amongst the three. Rainbow blinked and squinted at her. "Haven't I seen you before?," she asked. "Well…"

The doorbell timidly rang. In fact, the guests had to confer among each other that it had rang, it was so quiet. Key Keeper approached the door slowly- it had begun to rain, and he didn't want to get water to the Hall floor if there wasn't even a guest there.

But he still unlocked and opened it, and found that there was a pony waiting there. She was a light yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Her left wing was bandaged, but that was her only covering besides a light raincoat. She was currently petting the guard dogs, who were panting happily at the attention, wagging their tails.

She stopped and leaped back when she saw a pony at the door, mumbled "Sorry," and began to rub her hooves together worriedly. Key opened the door wider, and she rushed in and began to remove her raincoat. He shut the door on the whimpering sounds the dogs were beginning to make. "I'm F-fluttershy," said the pegasus as she put her coat into the closet. "I know, ma'am.," stated Key Keeper. Fluttershy squeaked at the polite title.

He led her to the Library, and once again made the introductions, leaving to wait by the door. Fluttershy approached Sugar Belle. "Um, can I get a d-drink?" Sugar Belle handed the nervous mare an orange soda. "T-Thank you," she squeaked, and quickly dashed over to huddle in the corner, slowly sipping her drink.

Rarity turned to her original companions, only to find them locked in some conversation about destroying old buildings, and the best methods of doing so. Not knowing anything about manual labor, she went over to the wallflower of a pegasus, who seemed to make herself smaller at her approach.

* * *

"-and there has never been a pony having a sixth sense recorded in science or history, so your "Pinkie Sense" is simply illogical," ranted Twilight. Pinkie was bouncing along the road as she talked, still humming, and still hauling the wagon behind her. "Why did you even bring a wagon, anyway?," asked Twilight.

Pinkie snorted. "Because it's a party, silly! And for a party, I need to bring my party supply wagon!," she cheered. Zipping around, she went behind the wagon and gave it a kick, then went inside to show Twilight the supplies as it rolled on. "I've got card games, board games, records of music, balloons, confetti, and my prized sugar-loaded snacks!"

Twilight huffed a piece of confetti off of her nose. "I don't think a dinner party has any of those things." "Well good! I didn't want to bring the same stuff as our host." Twilight opened her mouth, trying to figure out how to respond to that, when Pinkie gasped and dashed out of the wagon, pushing it until it came to a halt.

Turning to look, she saw that they had already arrived at the doors of the mansion. Pinkie waved something at the wagon, causing it to beep and Twilight to jump, and then ran to the doorbell. She tugged the rope a few times before suddenly pulling it rapidly to play a song.

A frazzled Key Keeper opened the door and held her hoof a few measures in. "Please…don't," he said wearily. Pinkie smiled at him and hopped in, chattering to him about the supplies she had brought. Twilight cautiously followed. Key Keeper gestured to take her book and pen, but she waved him off. With a small burst of magic, the items were sent to her small pocket dimension.

Key Keeper brought the two of them to the Library. "Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle," he announced, "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy." The six ponies are waved to each other- all but Twilight, who was too busy scanning through the books.

As she took a few from the shelves, a loud gong sounded through the house. Fluttershy jumped, accidentally splashing her drink on Rarity, who screeched at having liquid touch her dress. "Ah. Dinner," said Key Keeper, walking out of the room as though nothing had happened.

Fluttershy turned to Rarity, handing her some napkins. "S-sorry. I'm a little c-clumsy. And easily s-startled." Rarity accepted the napkins, though she still looked upset. She followed Key Keeper as she tried to clean her dress, and chagrined Fluttershy coming next. The rest of the ponies all filed out to door, hungry and ready for dinner.

All but Twilight, who was busy reading a book and a free desk. Key Keeper came back in and began to levitate her towards the kitchen, her muzzle still buried in the book.


	2. A Conversational Dinner

Key Keeper placed Twilight, who had by now noticed she was being moved, into her place at the table, between Applejack and Rarity. Across from her sat Pinkie Pie, who was impatiently watching Sugar Belle place bowls of creamy broth in front of them. Twilight immediately went back to her book.

Twilight noticed the chair at the head of the table. "Is that for our host?" Key Keeper, pouring ice water in their glasses, answered, "No, but for our final guest, QC." Rarity piped up, "Our letters made it sound like this 'QC' was our host." Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow made sounds of agreement. "Who is our host, then?," questioned the ever-curious Twilight.

Key Keeper only smirked. Finished, he stood next to the door.

Pinkie Pie had ignored the conversation. She also ignored her spoon as she stuck her muzzle into the soup and began to drink it. Rainbow, sitting at her right, scooted away an inch when Pinkie began to slash the soup over her. Fluttershy simply ignored it and sipped her own soup delicately- using a spoon.

"Shouldn't we made for the other guest?," protested Rarity as the others began to reach for their spoons. Fluttershy stopped, looking embarrassed. "I'll leave something warm for him to eat," chirped Sugar Belle happily. That was all the encouragement the hungry ponies needed, and they all tucked into the hearty broth.

For about a minute, the only sounds were of five ponies sipping soup, one slurping it, and one book's pages being turned. Rarity stopped eating before looking around the room and bursting out, "Well, I'm used to having to start the conversation, so I might as well try to break the ice. I have no idea what were doing here- or what I'm doing here- but I am determined to make this a good night out," a sip of the soup, "Mm, this soup is delicious, isn't it?"

The other ponies had stopped what they were doing to look up at her.

"So, uh, what do you mean 'used to starting conversation'?," asked Rainbow. Rarity blushed. "Well, it's par for the course when you're the wife of ambassador." Rainbow mulled over this before calling, "OH! _Now_ I remember! You're married to Capper Dapperpaws, that Abyssinian, aren't you?" After saying this, she stuck out her tongue. "You married a cat?"

Rarity huffed indignantly. "Well, now, this isn't the time of the Griffonstone War or Changeling Rebellion or…or the Dark Ages, is it? Lots of ponies start relationships with other species!" And she angrily slurped her soup. Applejack appealed to her, "I'm sure Rainbow was just surprised is all, no harm meant."

Rainbow huffed, "You shouldn't make light of the Griffonstone War so much- it was fairly recent, and _some_ if us may have fought in it." Twilight, wanting the argument to end so she could read, motioned, "Well, since the Griffons never actually invaded Equestria, Celestia never needed to start a draft for an army, the 'war' ended after about a month and a half, and because it was actually a wendigo plot, lots of ponies probably overlook it, especially because of the Changeling Rebellion."

Pinkie blinked. "Wow Twilight, that was really smart! Are you a student? Or a professor?" Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I do study a lot…I'm sort of a student..." And then she went back to her book without elaboration.

Rarity, trying to stop the silence, broke in, "So, what do you do, Applejack?" Twilight groaned and slammed her head into the table. Applejack, surprised at the sudden question, swallowed her food to reply, "Well, ah really just work on my family's farm." Rarity blinked. "Oh! Do you have somepony to help you with that? It must be a very big job." The corners of Applejack's smile became tight, as she answered, "Well, ma sister started to help after she graduated."

A clash of thunder rang out, and Fluttershy yelped and jumped, knocking her spoon into Pinkies lap. "Oh! I'm so sorry!," she said as she reached for the spoon. But Pinkie, who had drank all her soup, held up a hoof to stop her, before bending over and licking the soup off of her lap. Poor Fluttershy looked mortified, and all the others' faces became a shade of green.

Sugar Belle, noticing in a few minutes that all the guest had pushed their bowls of soup away, brought out the main dish- some kind of white, soft food cut into slices. Rarity dug into it, purring, commenting to her, "This is one of my favorite recipes!" Sugar Belle smiled in turn. The other ponies, seeing how she liked it, dug in, and discovered that the flavor, though odd, was actually pretty tasty.

Rarity tried to keep up the conversation still. "So where are you all from?" Rainbow huffed, "Why do you need to know?" Pinkie chirped, "Maybe she wants to hang with someone! Which she can do with you, since you work with the Wonderbolts in Canterlot! Or with Twilight, since she studies there!" The two ponies gawked at her.

"How did you know that?," they both snapped at once. She shrugged. "I'm situated in Canterlot sometimes, and I see Rainbow there. And where else would a super duper smart unicorn be a student?," she gave them all a bright smile. Fluttershy commented, "I'm in Canterlot a lot, too," and Applejack added, "And I do business there sometimes."

Rainbow leapt up. "Okay, so we're all connected to Canterlot- the capital- somehow, and we're meeting in a mansion right next to it." She whirled to Key Keeper, who had been stoically watching them from the door. "Where's our host and why have we been brought here?," she demanded. With perfect timing, the doorbell rang, and Key Keeper rushed to the front door. A hushed conversation was heard, and the ponies strained to hear.

"May I take your bag, sir?" A snort. "I'll just leave it here for when I need it. Don't. Touch. It," snarled a new voice. The sound of two sets of hoofsteps echoed into the quiet Dining Room.

A minute later, he walked back in…followed by a changeling.

Not a colorful, friendly, pastel changeling, but a changeling with a black chassis, tattered green wings, and holes in his legs. He glared at them all with his pupil-less teal eyes, flicking his forked tongue at them.

As he glared, his wings began to buzz, accompanied by a rattling sound. Fluttershy squeaked and crouched low into her seat.

Key Keeper introduced him. "This is Quivering Chassis, also known as QC." QC turned to look at him. "What are they doing here?," he hissed. "Eating dinner. Do sit down, QC." The changeling took his seat at the head of the table and continued to glare at the now-uncomfortable ponies. Sugar Belle tried to place a plate in front of him when he snapped.

"I don't want your food!" He glared at her. "Only weakling pastel powderpuffs need to eat food. REAL changelings feed on emotion," he hissed. Sugar Belle, now looking quite scared, fled back to the kitchen.

Rarity coughed and shifted her chair away from him. Twilight, her back hooves shaking unseen, asked, "Why _aren't_ you a pastel color? I though all the changelings shared love when," he glared harshly at her, "when, uh, t-they r-rebelled against their queen."

QC huffed. "Even if that…that Thorax found a way to share love after those rouge wendigos caused a shortage of it with that war, that was still no reason to rebel against our queen." Twilight gasped. "Queen Chrysalis is considered a criminal in Equestria, and in other countries, as well!" She gulped. "Do you…still support her?"

QC grinned, showing off all of his sharp fangs. Fluttershy squeaked again, and was almost completely hidden under the table at this point. His chassis began to shudder, producing the same rattling sound as before. "There is no proof," he stated calmly, hooves flooded together, "that I am associated with her."

Key Keeper, sensing the situation turning sour, stepped in. "I believe, since all of out guests are here, we can discuss what we are all here for." Out of his suit, he pulled out a neatly folded letter. He cleared his throat and read:

 _It will be to your advantage to be present on this date because a certain QC will bring an end to a certain long-standing confidential and painful financially liability._

He looked back up at them. "It is unsigned. I presume you all received similar letters?" The ponies nodded. The changeling grunted. "I received a letter, but it didn't say that." He quieted up, aside from the rattling sound. The glare he sent made the other guests unwilling to question him.

Key Keeper cleared his throat. "Can I interest anypony in fruit or dessert?" Sugar Belle peeked out of the Kitchen fearfully, shaking her head. The ponies needed no encouragement, as the rude QC had spoiled even Pinkie's appetite.

He continued, "Then I suggest we go to the Study, where I believe our unknown host will reveal his intentions." The ponies nodded in agreement, filing out of the room one by one. QC left after them, his chassis giving a shift as he got up. Key Keeper gestured for Sugar Belle to follow.

She shook her head violently, watching QC fearfully as he left. Key Keeper groaned and began levitating the reluctant unicorn with him, hoping this wouldn't become a regular thing.


	3. Why They're Here

Key Keeper came into the cozy Study after dropping Sugar Belle off in the Billiard Room. The guests had already made themselves comfortable. The ponies choose to sit on the couches and armchairs, while Quivering Chassis had taken the small wooden chair next to the door. He watched Key Keeper warily, sipping a glass of ice water.

He walked over to the desk and grabbed a large lavender folder. "Ladies and gentleling, I have been instructed to tell you what you all have in common with each other." He glanced at the calm QC. "Unless you care to do the honors, sir." QC glared back. "Why? Do they know who I am?" "I don't think so, sir, you haven't told them."

QC leapt out of his seat, wings aflutter. "It's a hoax! I suggest we all leave!," he exclaimed as he ran out the door. "I'm sorry sir, but you cannot leave this house!," cried Key Keeper as he ran after him. The mares all followed after, and they found an irritated QC trying to magic the door unlocked.

"All the doors are locked, and all of them are laced with an anti-magic metal," explained Key Keeper as QC's green magic slid off the metal lock like liquid. "This is an outrage! You can't hold us prisoner!," exclaimed QC. The others began yelling in agreement. Key Keeper raised his hooves to quiet them.

"Everypony, please, return to the Study. I'll explain everything." They begrudgingly went back in. QC ran further into the house, key Keeper following him. He found the changeling in the Conservatory, readying a brick to throw. "You can't get out that way," stated Key Keeper calmly. QC laughed. "Why? It's only glass!"

And he let the brick fly, and it connected with the fragile glass.

In the same second, a large burst of green magic shot straight at the brick and destroyed it…and continued on.

* * *

Key Keeper came into the Study full of anxiously waiting ponies, leading a scowling QC with him. He flopped down in the wood chair, sipping at his glass of water, glaring at the ponies over the rim. They all decided at once that they didn't want to ask about his very scorched wing.

Key Keeper took his place behind the table, saying quickly this time, "Ladies, all of you have one thing in common- you're all being blackmailed." The guests shuffled their hooves uncomfortably. "For some time, you have been paying all you can afford to someone who threatens to expose you. And none of you know who it is, do you?"

Rarity laughed nervously. "Why, that's preposterous! My life is an open book, no one could hold anything against me- I've never done anything wrong!" She continued to laugh loudly and nervously, starting to sweat. The others stayed quiet, shifting on the cushions and shuffling their hooves.

Key Keeper glanced around. "Anyone else wish to deny it?" Rarity was still quietly laughing to herself. Fluttershy huddled against the couch, huddling her head over her hooves. Twilight was overly focused on a ordinary vase on the mantle, and Pinkie, thinking it was a game, was also staring intently. Rainbow was coughing into her hoof. Applejack bit her lip and began to sweat.

Key Keeper began to open the lavender folder. "Since we are all in the same boat, there should be no harm in divulging some information." Applejack cut in, "Couldn't you spare us the humiliation of...all this?" He gazed back. "I'm sorry." And with that, he pulled out the content of the folder- lots of papers and some photographs.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. A student of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns- one who is free-studying, under surveillance of guards, and barred from taking classes for a currently undetermined amount of time. Now why would that be?"

Twilight wrung her hooves together as he continued. "Reported hefts of supplies from chemistry labs and medical centers, on multiple occasions could be a possibility. Perhaps the numerous overtaken or out-of-control group projects?" He shifted through clipping of paper. "No, the reason is the counted three attempts of practicing her own invented spells-possibly dangerous- on a live subject without clearance from authorities." A gasp came from the others. "And she always managed to argue her way out of her expulsion for dangerous activities."

Key Keeper looked up from the folder. "And so Twilight stays on school grounds. She can be a student, as authorities are unable to expel her from campus." He flipped to the last page. "But they can bar her from getting anymore chances to try anything on live subjects, and punish her actions in some way." He flipped to the last page. "They also took away the dependant in her custody."

Twilight was squirming, trying to hide from all the pairs of eyes focused on her. Rarity shuddered, holding a hoof to her chest. "How could you use untested magic on...on another creature?" Twilight squirmed and muttered, "The spells replied on a specific alignment of the stars. By the time clearance would have come, it would be too late." She glared at Key Keeper, saying, "And all of those spells were meant to be beneficial to my very willing volunteer!"

Rarity huffed and shook her head. "Still, if they weren't tested, how do you know they would have worked? You could have seriously harmed them." Key Keeper, now holding the white folder, turned to her. "Are you making moral judgements, Mrs. Dapperpaws? Now how about receiving bribes from nobility in return for some untaxed, undeclared Abyssinian goods?"

She choked. "That's…that's a vicious lie!" Key Keeper flipped again in his notes. "Oh? They how about the paying of bribes to certain officials to keep Capper's license as an ambassador updated without them…looking into his past so much."

Rarity leapt up. "Now see here!" she yelled. "Capper was running away from a lot of debt. And yes, we were living a lie for a while," she hung her head, "he was...involved in crime before I married him, and when I learned, I...I started to help." The ponies murmured.

Rarity continued with head held high, "But Celestia eventually confronted and forgave us of it, helping with the debt and giving my husband a real license!"

Key Keeper raised an eyebrow. "And you still pay the blackmailer? Even if Capper was the mastermind? Even if it is all over?" Rarity's resolve withered. "Well…the letters told me to not tell Capper, just like they told me to not go to the Royal Guard. He does even know about the blackmail."

She shivered, saying, "And the princess kept the whole issue private between us. If word got out, the public might not understand- they could riot against us!" She huddled on the floor. "We can't be kicked out of Equestria- there's nowhere else to go! Abyssinia wouldn't let Capper back into the country as a resident after they found out he took those goods!"

Fluttershy sat on the floor next to her, rubbing her back soothingly. "Ah know how you feel," grumbled Applejack. "Ah'm bein' blackmailed for something I did a while back." "Same here," replied Rainbow. Pinkie, who had been staring into the distance, suddenly cried out "Oh! Is this about all those letters I got saying that if I didn't give them bits, they'd tell everyone how dangerous my parties are?"

Key Keeper flipped through the pink folder. "Yes, Miss Pie. Ponies have gone missing for days attending parties you host. Your business should have been investigated long before now." Pinkie smirked. "What can I say? When we party, we party hard." She wiped her brow. "Whew! I couldn't tell if this was about that or that poor Neighgarian prince who needed all those bits."

Twilight came over to Pinkie. "You do know that the Neighgarian Prince is a-" "Oh!" cried Fluttershy, her eyes wide. "Is that how you know Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow coughed into her hoof. "What's wrong with a party every now and then?" Key Keeper grabbed the blue folder.

"Nothing's wrong with a party, ma'am, even though you may or may not be ignoring important work, being reported as missing for days on end. Theoretically." Key Keeper flipped through the pages. "No, your blackmail stems from how in your squadron of the Wonderbolts, every place you went in the Griffonstone War was strangely devoid of citizens. And how you sent 'urgent' messages out after every strategy meeting."

Rainbows wings flew open. "So what? It's just a coincidence!" She flopped back onto the couch, her hooves crossed, and a pout on her face.

Key Keeper switched to the orange folder. "Miss Applejack. Running a large farm was difficult, even with two siblings helping. Business could be difficult." He looked at her from over the folder. "And then your brother married someone from a distant village. You were happy for him, but your elderly grandmother and young sister, a student, couldn't quite pick up the slack he left behind."

Applejack choked. "Wha…how did you-" Key Keeper continued, "And yet business continued, and profits even ended up increasing, even though there was only one full-time worker on the farm." He flipped to another page. "There is evidence that shows several stallions, known small-town suitors of yours, working in the orchards at night. A task to win your hoof, I presume?"

Applejack stood up. "Now listen here! Even if that was true- which it ain't!," she declared, biting her lip, "There's nothing wrong with hiring volunteers." Key Keeper sighed. "Working all night? That would be overtime. Many ponies would consider making them work like that to be unethical."

He flipped to the last page. "Furthermore, you haven't declared any volunteer work on your tax forms. That is especially illegal." He coughed into his hoof. "There's also the fact that several celebrities- Tenderhoof and Countess Colturara- have done the same work, at night, without pay, when passing through Ponyville." Applejack's cheeks flamed red. Rarity gasped at this, practically fainting.

Applejack protested, "Well...Rara wanted to help...And that Trenderhoof guy wouldn't leave me be...and the rest of them, they started doing thst themselves!" Key Keeper raised an eyebrow. "And you never asked them to stop, it seemed." For a few second, her mouth opened and closed, until she finally hung her head.

She sighed. "That was all years ago. Once my sister was old enough to do more of the work, I turned all of the stallions down, and they stopped coming." She held her hat over her chest. "But if this got out, business could drop, and I couldn't support my family. I just can't afford to take that chance." The ponies remained silent, gazing with sympathetic eyes.

Fluttershy suddenly stood up boldly during the bout of silence, surprising the ponies. "I have something to say." She wrung her hooves as all eyes focused on her. "I'm not going to wait for Key Keeper to…unmask me. I work for the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures. And I am an asexual."

Key Keeper raised an eyebrow over the yellow folder as the ponies let out small gasps. QC, who had been quiet, let out an almost inaudible hum of interest. Fluttershy continued, "Ponies aren't as accepting of being ace as much as…other sexualities or…interspecies couples." She lowered her head. "And I'm scared that if they learn, I…I could lose my job, and I wouldn't be able to help those poor creatures anymore." She sat back down, huddling into the couch.

Twilight stood up. "Well," she said as she walked, "That leaves QC." She stood in front of the changeling, who had been quietly watching all the proceedings.

"Ooooh, what's his secret? Was it theft? Kidnapping? Tried to take over Equestria?," cried Pinkie as she got up in Key Keeper's face.

Key Keeper looked at them in surprise. "Haven't you guessed? He's the one who's blackmailing you all."


	4. Introducing the Weapons

"You bastard!," cried Rainbow, flying over to the changeling. "You're gonna pay! C'mon, put um up!" She stood in a fighting stance, front hooves circling at the ready.

QC stood up, magic swirling around him. In his place now stood an older pegasus mare. "Dashie, you wouldn't hit your own mother, would you?" The mare pleaded. Rainbow lowered in hooves for a second, her eyes blank.

The rattling sound started once again, causing the image of Rainbow's mother to vibrate and become blurry. "Crap," she muttered, before the illusion disappeared with a _pop!_ Rainbow raised her hooves, preparing to lunge at the undisguised changeling .

But her defenses had lowered. QC took this opportunity to kick her in the shin, causing her to topple over. She tried to sweep him off his hooves, but he leapt over it. He landed on top of her, using gravity's power to force his back hooves into her stomach.

Rainbow crawled away before getting onto her hooves shakily. "You…fight…dirty," she grunted between her teeth. QC grinned at her, showing off his fangs. "You did call me a bastard. You expect me to be fair to you little puffballs?"

She growled and was about to lunge again, but Fluttershy held her back. It wasn't doing much- barely slowing her down, even. Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity came to help her, all pulling back on Rainbow. But the pegasus was seeing red, and their efforts were barely fading her.

All of them stopped, though, as a large lasso of curtain rope fell around QC. They all stared at it in confusion. "What the-" was all QC could say before the rope tightened in on itself, tiring his legs together.

Applejack walked to the bound, hissing changeling and double knotted the rope. "You're welcome," she said to the others with a smug smirk. The others released Rainbow, who looked a bit put out. They all gathered around the changeling. "What do you reckon we do to him?," asked Applejack.

Key Keeper gave a small cough. "I recommend you turn him over to the Royal Guard when then get here in about forty-five minutes." The ponies hummed and chattered about this idea. After a beat of silence, they turned to Key Keeper simultaneously. "WHAT!?"

Key Keeper calmly explained, "Black mail depends on secrecy. You tell the Royal Guards how he's blackmailed you, he'll be convicted, and your troubles will be over." The ponies glanced between each other nervously. QC worked his hooves out of the slippery rope.

"'S not so easy," he grunted. "You'll never tell the Guards- wouldn't want to reveal your secrets, would you, _ponies."_ Key Keeper stood straighter. "I shall tell them, then. I have evidence of everything, and everything said here is being tape recorded." The ponies looked around the room, all but Pinkie and Rainbow covering their mouths and blushing.

QC kicked the slick rope completely off of his hooves. He quickly got up and walked towards the door. "And just where do you think you're going?," asked Key Keeper. QC smirked. "I think I have something to help them…make up their minds."

He came back in a minute, levitating a black suitcase in his magic. Setting it on the ground, he popped open the latches. Pinkie and Twilight cranes their necks to see what was inside, while the others backed away. Key Keeper stood near the door, watching stoically.

Inside the suitcase were six small black boxes, all of equal size, all tied with six different colored ribbons- lavender, white, pink, blue, orange, and yellow. QC took one in his hooves at a time and began to carefully pass them to the ponies with the respective coat color.

"We didn't know we would meet you, but did you know you would be meeting us?," asked Twilight. He grinned and nodded as he passed her the lavender-ribboned box. "And what were you told?," asked Applejack with a raised eyebrow.

He grinned. "Just that we would discuss our little…financial arrangement." Rainbow snatched the box from his hooves. "And regardless of whether I showed up or not, Key Keeper would turn the evidence over to the Royal Guard." A trembling Fluttershy delicately lifted the box out of his hooves, squeaking as he suddenly moved away from her.

"Naturally, I couldn't help but make an appearance, with that kind of invitation." Rarity took the box calmly, crossing her back hooves to hide them trembling. "A word to the wise, though, Key Keeper, I don't like being threatened. Especially by little pastel powderpuffs." Pinkie bounced over to him and eagerly took the case.

QC looked around to see that all the ponies were seated (Pinkie Pie had chosen the desk as a seat), but none had made a move to open their boxes. "What are you waiting for. Open them already!," he snapped at them. The ponies quickly looked away from his glare and began to untie their boxes.

Pinkie was ripping her ribbon into shreds. "I love getting presents!," she babbled, "I also like getting surprises, or giving presents, or giving surprises, or both, like a surprise present party-" she lifted the top off the box. Inside, on a black cushion, was a balloon-shaped gem. It was mostly clear, but there was a light blue tint to it. When she lifted it out of the box to compare it to her cutie mark, she could feel a shiver travel up her hoof and down her spine.

All of the ponies had brought the hoof-sized gems out of their boxes. Applejack's was an orange-tinted apple, Fluttershy's was a pink-tinted butterfly, Rainbow's was a red-tinted lightning bolt, Twilight's was a magenta-tinted…spark…thing, and Rarity's was a purple-tinted gem.

Each pony shivered when the touched their gem. Just looking at the gems, everyone in the room could tell there was just something… _wrong_ about them.

QC chuckled darkly at their scared and confused expressions. "What you're holding are some…special magic artifacts." They all looked at him, confusion written across all their faces. "There're quite simple to use- focus on your target, and the little gem will do it's work."

"Target?," questioned a glaring Rainbow. QC nodded. "A one-use artifact- a memory capture system." Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, asking, "Why a memory copying spell? That doesn't do anything to benefit you…"

QC erupted into laughter. "C-copy?! Hah!" He wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "No, that is a memory _transfer_ object- as in, every memory in your target's mind goes into that little gem."

Twilight gasped. "That's…that's dark magic!" Fluttershy, who had been inspecting her gem, squeaked and dropped it on the floor, and began scooting away from the edge of the couch. QC nodded. "It's not a quick spell- the victim is unconscious for about 24 hours during the process- but it will work well for us."

He continued, "If you turn me in, your secrets will all be exposed. I'll make sure of it in my trial." They all squirmed under his gaze. "But…we could all leave. But who here has the keys to get out? And who would turn over all your secrets?"

Key Keepers eyes widened as QC glared at him. "Target Key Keeper," he shouted, "and not only will he be left unconscious, but he won't even remember anything- none of you, none of your secrets!" He whirled around the room to glare at the ponies.

"Naturally, there are other, more…permanent ways to accomplish this," QC sighed, "But you ponies are much too squeamish about such things. Even you, Rainbow," he sent a glare to the veteran. "And yes, if the gem and target are too far away, there is a chance of the target's mind simply being lost to the ether, but even a painless, easy method like that is too much for you!"

He walked past a shocked Key Keeper to the door. Shutting it, he told them, "But if you don't want to find yourselves on the front pages, the only solution is for one of you to attack Key Keeper." He placed a hoof on the light switch. "Now."

And then there was darkness. All six of the gems were softly glowing. A sudden flash of magenta light blinded everyone, and there was the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. Fluttershy screamed.

Rarity, holding her gem, rushed to the switch and turned the lights back on. She gasped and dropped her artifact when she saw what happened.

There was a body on the floor.


	5. Who Targeted QC?

"It's not Key Keeper!," whispered Rainbow. The ponies all gathered around the collapsed Quivering Chassis. His eyes were wide open, and had turned into a grayish color. He had fallen forward, so he was slumping onto his front hooves, which were bent underneath him.

"Stand back!," cried Twilight, pulling odd tools and devices from her pocket dimension. Examining the changeling with a few devices, she soon pulled away, turning to the others. "He's a victim of that dark spell. His memories are currently flowing to the gem." They all gasped.

"Which gem is it?," questioned Applejack. "The magenta one," muttered Twilight. "Then you did it!," cried Rarity, moving away from her. "I didn't!," shouted Twilight. "Someone grabbed for my gem in the dark, and when I was wrestling for it, they activated it!"

"We should have seen movement," stated Key Keeper, "all the gems were glowing." "Well," started Twilight, "suppose someone set theirs down…" The ponies glanced at Fluttershy. She looked around at all the pairs of eyes on her.

"I didn't do it!," she cried, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Key Keeper came over to Twilight as the other ponies stumbled over each other to apologize and calm her. "You're our magic expert here. How will the gem change after use?" Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. "Well...as memories transfer, the gems should start to glow brighter, and be brightest when it's finished. The process starts immediately after connection is made."

Key Keeper pointed to the spark-shaped gem, which still barely glowed. The others watched as Twilight lifted it carefully and began to examine it. "It's impossible…but it couldn't be any other…but he…then why…," she murmured to herself.

Rainbow coughed into her hoof. "Hey, Twi, mind telling us what's happening?" Twilight looked up, startled. "Oh! Well, it's just that even though QC is showing signs of a magically induced coma, none of the gems show any signs of activation. And it's impossible for us to be outside the range of transfer." She started to pace.

"So not only do we have a pon- a changeling under a dark-magic induced coma, we don't know _who_ did it or _how_ they did it," she concluded. Pinkie bounced along beside Twilight. "At least we know _where_ it was! We're a third of the way there!" The other stared at her in confusion.

"Oh, this is all too much!," moaned Rarity. "I need a drink." The only beverage in the room was QC's glass. Not caring that it had been used, she grabbed it with her magic and took several large gulps of water.

Twilight leapt up and pointed a hoof at the glass. "Maybe he was poisoned!" Rarity dropped the glass and began screaming. Fluttershy calmly took her by the hoof and led her to sit down on the couch, saying soothingly, "Its okay, Rarity…it's fine…Rarity, it's okay…"

The unicorn continued to scream as she sat on the couch. Mascara started to run down her cheeks, washed down by hysterical tears. Fluttershy looked annoyed, and brought back her hoof. The other ponies held their breaths after small shocked gasps. Fluttershy swung her hoof toward Rarity, only to stop at the last second a give her cheek a light tap. Rarity stopped screaming, a puzzled look on her face.

"I-I had to s-stop her screaming," mumbled Fluttershy to the others, wringing her hooves. They stared blankly at her, but focused their attentions to the glass. Fluttershy sat on the couch next to Rarity and began to rub her hoof against her back.

Twilight, who had brought out more tools, was disappointed to find that the water had soaked into the carpet, and that there was no trace of liquid left in the glass. Pinkie held the glass upside down over her eye. "I guess we'll never know," she sighed, "Unless Rarity also goes into some freaky magic coma."

Twilight leapt to her hooves. "That's it!" She trotted up next to Rarity, the other following to watch closely. "How lightheaded are you? Do you remember when you came to the mansion? What did we eat for dinner?"

Rarity, glancing at the faces so close to her, opened her mouth to answer, when suddenly, a scream echoed through the house. All the ponies got up and ran to the door. Rainbow and Applejack got stuck when they tried to go out at the same time, but Pinkie gave them a push, causing the three to tumble in a heap. Twilight dashed uncaringly over them, while Fluttershy did her best to step between them.

Key Keeper burst out of the door, carrying the ring of keys in his magic. With a burst of magic, the heap of ponies were separated and back on their hooves. The group followed Key Keeper as he ran to the Billiard Room and frantically tried to unlock it.

Twilight crowded behind him. "It's got to be the criminal! What else could it be?" "But why would they be screaming?," pointed out Fluttershy, who was staying at the back of the crowd. Applejack crowded on Key Keeper's other side. She declared, "They must have a victim in there." As he bfought a hoof to her mouth in horror. "Oh Celestia, Sugar Belle!" Fluttershy gasped.

Key Keeper finally got the door unlocked, and they all tumbled in. Sugar Belle cut off in the middle of a scream to gawk at the pile of ponies collapsing on the floor. Fluttershy, the only one standing, gave a small wave. Sugar Belle waved back, a dazed look on her face.

Key Keeper stood up, lifting the mares off of him and placing them into a neat line. "Good to see you well, Sugar Belle." Sugar Belle glared at him with tears pooling in her eyes. "Well? _Well!?_ You brought me into danger! You never mentioned danger! I was just supposed to bring snacks and serve drinks!"

Applejack started looking around. The Billiard Room, aside from the pool table and the tape recorder on it, was empty. "Uh…what danger, exactly?," she questioned, eyebrows raised. Sugar Belle began to whimper. "It-it has to be one of you who did it. One of you used dark magic! And then you were saying the water could be poisoned, and I remembered I drank some of it earlier, and-" she was cut off by her own sobs.

Fluttershy and Pinkie went to her side to comfort her. "Come on back with us," said Fluttershy. "Then we can work on this together." "A-a-and be w-with the o-one who…?," Sugar Belle sniveled. Rainbow gestured to the door. "There's safety in numbers, and we all need to figure this out before we all end up convicted for it! So c'mon!" And with that, she was out the door.

Back in the Study , Sugar Belle and the six suspects were sitting around QC. They had placed the crystal next to him, to prevent any damage to the changeling's mind, but it still showed no signs of activation or transfer. Each pair of eyes stared intently, as though that would somehow make a clue appear.

Key Keeper came in, carrying the tape reels from the recorder. He sighed when he saw the circle, and levitated the tapes to the desk. "We need to find out who did this within forty minutes. We need to use this time _wisely."_

Fluttershy dragged a front hoof in circles across the carpet. "How are we supposed to find which of you did it in that time?" Twilight's head snapped up. "What do you mean which of 'you' did it?" Fluttershy began to shiver, and held a hoof to her chest, crying, "I didn't do it!"

Key Keeper looked at them all. "You all had an opportunity, you all had a motive, and one of you must have done it." Pinkie began to rock back and forth, babbling, "We're all gonna go to jail! I can't go to the big house!" Twilight pointed out, "Maybe it…wasn't one of us."

Rainbow crossed her forehooves and huffed. "Well, who else could it have been?" Twilight held up a hoof and turned to Key Keeper. "Who else is in this house?," she inquired.

Key Keeper and Sugar Belle both replied, "Only the cook." After a second, the ponies cried at once, "THE COOK!," and galloped to the Kitchen.

They found it empty. Dishes had began washed and set to dry, knives were sheathed and put away, and any leftovers had been apparently taken care of. The cook was nowhere to be seen.

Fluttershy was the 'volunteer' to explore first (they gave her a light push down the stairs). She wandered about, her head lowered, her un-bandaged wing visibly shaking. She stopped next to the fridge and lifted her head up, seeming to gain some confidence. "Well," she said, "I guess she's not here."

The fridge door began to creak open.

Pinkie Pie screamed.


	6. Who Was QC?

An off-white earth mare fell out of the fridge and into Fluttershy's forehooves. Her body shook under the sudden weight. "I didn't do it!," she cried whipping her head towards the shocked group. "Can someone help me, ple-" her strength gave out, and both ponies collapsed in a heap on the floor.

The group rushed forward. Pinkie helped Fluttershy up, and the rest examined the cook. Tied to her hoof with a handkerchief was one of the gems- the diamond-shaped one. A faint purple glow could be easily seen coming from within it. Twilight ran some tests, including checking the cook's eyes- they had rolled back into her head, and were a pale grey.

She turned to the others, giving the prognosis, "She's in midst of memory transfer. This time, the memories are definitely going," she tapped the gem lightly, "into here." Fluttershy's eyes were still wide, and she clung to Pinkie as she asked, "Who would want to attack the cook?" Pinkie Pie gave her consoling pats on the back, replying, "Dinner wasn't _that_ bad."

Rainbow flew over to them, shouting, "How can you joke about something like this!?" She turned away as the two flinched, and Fluttershy began to whimper. She instead scanned the room, trying to make some kind of connection. Seeing Rarity in her elaborate dress and jewelry, she remembered something.

 _"You_ were given that gem, weren't you, Rarity?," she asked, flying close to her face. Rarity scoffed, looking offended. "Don't you dare accuse me, Rainbow! I dropped that gem after I drank the water. Any of you could have used it!" Rainbow turned away, groaning, "Sorry."

A forlorn moan brought the group's attention to Key Keeper, who was leaning against the wall. "Oh, I can't believe this could have happened to Coco! This isn't what I intended! Oh, Luna help me!" He sat in the corner and buried his face in his hooves.

Applejack approached him. "What do you mean, 'not what you intended'?" Pinkie suddenly gasped. "He's not the butler- he's an spy! He's gonna convict us!" She shrieked and dove into a cutlery drawer, somehow fitting in and closing in while she was inside.

Key Keeper chose to ignore…whatever just happened and answered questions. "I'm not THE butler, but I am A butler. If fact, I used to be QC's butler." Twilight, after looking at a few notes, asked, "If this is his house and you work for him, why did he arrive late?"

Key Keeper gulped. "I invited you. This was all my idea." He stood up quickly. "Now, if we return to the Study-" "Hold on just a minute!," cried Rainbow. "I am not running back and forth through this house just so you can tell us a story. You're going to tell us everything here and now," she finished as she pushed on his shoulders, making him sit back down.

He coughed. "Very well." After fixing some wrinkles Rainbow had made in his suit, he sat up and began the tale.

* * *

Quivering Chassis was named that due to a rare genetic defect. His chassis was "loose" on his body, so to speak, and at random times would "quiver" and shake, producing an odd rattling sound.

This wouldn't have been more than a minor annoyance, if it didn't happen to ruin any disguise or form he took. And a changeling unable to disguise themselves was useless in the hive run by Queen Chrysalis.

Unable to collect love for the hive, he needed to prove that he had some worth. And so Chrysalis sent him into Equestria for two months, to see how he could support the hive.

It didn't take long for him to figure out money went far in Equestria. So he took the fastest means to get plenty of it- thievery, embezzling, forgery, and yes, blackmail. He gained prominence in several mob and mafia groups, and could be found exchanging rare items in black markets.

Chrysalis was quite pleased with his developed skills. She allowed him to continue his work, with a simple exchange each month. At the determined time, be would return to the hive, to give his queen a cut of the money. In return, he was given love to sustain himself on.

QC eventually earned enough to buy a mansion on the outskirts of his main practice of shady deals- Canterlot. He hired ponies part-time to do labor, but mostly so he could feed off of their emotions, to make his stored love last longer. Due to his appearance and personality, that emotion was typically fear.

When the changelings shared love and rebelled, he did not just refuse because of his ideals, but because he had no love of his own to share. He had "digested" the love he had last received, and he had no love of his own for anything. He felt loyal to the Old Hive, but had no love for them, and practically detested them after they rebelled. He considered them as he did the ponies- weak, spineless, pastel powderpuff prey.

So he did not change. The hive offered to let him return, even offering to give him love, but he refused. He continued to live in his mansion, continuing shady practices to gain bits, and spending more on part-time staff he could feed on.

Changelings can feed on emotions, and consume some physical food to nourish them. But love is the staple part of their diet, and other emotions can only go so far without any real food to support it.

But a few days after the rebellion, QC refused to eat any physical food, saying a true changeling would only eat emotions. He became somewhat malnourished, since his only food was fear, anger, and irritation, and began to suffer mentally because of it.

He became obsessed with gaining more bits, but slipped up often in his dealings. He kept hiring the same ponies several times, which was odd. He normally hired a pony once, then never contacted them again, if he could help it. Sometimes he seemed to think he was still working for Chrysalis.

But for a few years, he continued to blackmail and swindle, hiring ponies so he could feed off emotion. And that's how it's been until this fateful night.

* * *

The ponies gawked at Key Keeper. "Wait," said Twilight, holding up a hoof, "How did you know all that?"

Key Keeper sighed. "I'm a butler and organizer for hire. QC regularly requested me, especially after he became…less mentally sound." He magiced away a smudge on the floor. "Most of that I learned from rants he would sometimes go on."

He stood up. "To make a long story short…" "Too late," mumbled Rainbow. "Anyway, I learned about how he had been hurting you innocent…well, mostly innocent…ponies, and decided that he should face justice." He sighed, "My plan was just that I would inform you of everything and have him arrested, but I didn't expect him to bring the artifacts. I especially didn't want for Miss Pommel to be involved."

Silence took over the group for a second before he clapped his hooves together. "Well, let's take her back to the Study and figure out what happened." "Why?," questioned Pinkie, leaning forward, looking him in one eye. Unfazed, he replied, "Working or no, I prefer to keep kitchens tidy."

He been to lift her with his magic before Twilight shouted, "Wait!" They all looked at her. "We need to be extremely careful with the used gem. If it breaks, according to my calculations, there's about a eighty percent chance the victim goes into a coma, and twenty percent that they die."

And so she took the mare in her own aura, positioning her so her back was straight and her front hooves were folded over her chest. The gem continued to glow brighter. The group headed slowly back to the Study, following Twilight's lead.

But when they got to the door, she shrieked and dropped the cook. Rarity and Sugar Belle both reacted with a burst of magic that let her float semi-gently to the ground. Well, it wasn't all that gentle [i]or[/i] floaty, and the cook landed on the floor with a loud thud, but at least the gem didn't break.

Twilight turned to the ponies, her eyes wide. She cried, "QC's gone!"


	7. Mass Confusion

They all clamored and tripped into the room to see. It was true- the spot where they circled around earlier, where the unconscious changeling had lay, was now empty. Questions flew through the crowd.

Rainbow let out a whistle to grab their attention. "Everypony, spread out! Search for some kind of clue as to what happened!," she barked. Fluttershy ran to check under the couches, Applejack knelt down to examine the carpet, and Pinkie started to toss thing out of the desk drawers. Key Keeper came behind her and re-organized the mess she created. Sugar Belle stood next to Coco, making sure she and the gem were uninjured.

Rainbow noticed Rarity heading out the door. "Where do you think you're going?," she snapped. Rarity huffed, "I'm just going to find the little mares room to…powder my muzzle." Rainbow blinked and replied, "Your makeup looks fine to me." Rarity rolled her eyes and walked out the door.

Rainbow went over to Twilight , who was doing some kind of scan over the room. "Twilight, I thought you said that he had been hit by that memory…spell…thingy." Twilight ceased her scan and turned to her. "He was! Or at least I thought he was…" She held a hoof to her chin. "I wonder what effects this could have on the artifact if it 'missed'…or maybe the artifact just wasn't calibrated to work on changelings…"

Rainbow flew to the others as Twilight began to mutter theories, drawing in the air with her hooves as she talked. She zipped over to Fluttershy, who was now poking around the fireplace. She suddenly gasped, "Maybe QC attacked the cook!" Pinkie and Rainbow turned to her, shouting, "YES!"

Key Keeper and Twilight stared at them blankly. "How?," they asked at the same time. Rainbow shut her mouth, Fluttershy shifted her hooves as though illustrating something, while Pinkie turned back to what she had been doing- reading one of the folders on the desk.

Rainbow gave a start and flew over to her when she realized she was reading [i]her[/i] folder. She snatched it out of Pinkies hooves in one smooth motion. Smooth, if not for that she ended up scattering the contents over the floor.

"Aw, it was starting to get _good!,"_ whined Pinkie. Rainbow bristled out and yelled, "Well, this is my file, it belongs to me, and it is NOT YOURS TO READ!" A rustling of papers made her swivel her head. Fluttershy had come over and was shifting the papers into her hooves.

"Um…I was just… gathering them up?," she squeaked. As Rainbow opened her mouth, she yelped and ran off. Rainbow sighed and threw the photos and papers back into the folder as a disorganized mess, slamming it back on the desk. Key Keeper activated his horn, ready to fix the mess, but a glare from Rainbow stopped him short.

"Ha!," cried Applejack from her place at the carpet. Everypony ran towards her, but she held out her hooves to keep them standing back. She began to point out grooves and prints made in the carpet. "This here shows that some creature was here for a bit, but got up quickly, and here," she pointed to groves headed to the door, "these tell us they headed that way in an awful hurry."

Pinkie chirped, "That was amazing, Applejack! How'd you know all that? Are you a physic?" Applejack's cheeks turned pink. "Nothin' like that," she chuckled, "I just know how to read tracks. First time doing it with carpet though. But unfortunately, I don't know how I could read tile floors, so we don't know where QC went after he left."

* * *

Rarity sighed in relief as she came to a door painted with the letters "RESTROOM" in gold print. "Honestly," she huffed, "You'd think one of the first things to be in a large mansion would be easy-to-find restrooms."

She started to jiggle the stuck handle. _Although I wonder if emotion-only-diet changelings even need to use it…Maybe I could ask Twilight… No, no! That is not a topic of polite conversation, Rarity!_

The door finally opened.

Something large, black and heavy lunged at Rarity.

She screamed.

* * *

Everypony's ears perked up as a scream echoed through the house. They all galloped out the door, crying, "Rarity!"

They eventually found her, still screaming loudly and trying to back away as QC loped on top of her. "Get off her, creep!," yelled Rainbow, who flew forward to strike the mad changeling in the gut. He went flying, skidding limply across the floor, his chassis making a horrid scraping sound.

QC stared at them from his place on the floor with open grey eyes. Twilight cantered over as the others watched Rarity. Free of the weight, she brought a fan out of her dress and fanned herself as she brought a hoof up to her head.

Sugar Belle activated her horn, casting a magical aura around Rarity. But she was no skilled mage, and as Rarity fainted and fell, the spell dispersed and she fell onto the tile floor. "Sorry!," squeaked Sugar Belle as she offered a hoof to help the forcibly awakened Rarity up.

The two of them joined the rest of the group, who began to gather around the limp changeling. Twilight ran several tests over him before standing up to declare, "Well, he's certainly under that spell now. Plus some injuries from magic." She pointed out scorch marks on his legs and wings. "From the injuries, and this knock on the head," she gestured, "We can deduce that a magic user attacked him from behind, knocked him out, and used the spell."

Rainbow hummed suspiciously, "So we know it was a unicorn…" Fluttershy took a small step away from Rarity and Sugar Belle. Twilight glared and said, "While that is the simplest explanation, we don't know the full abilities of the artifacts. They could give users other forms of magic, for all we know." Rainbow huffed, "I thought scientists like you used that thing…O-chan's Blade or something."

Twilight grunted, "It's called Occam's Razor! Plus, using one point of data to come to your conclusion is just…just unscientific!" Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, but Pinkie interjected, "You guys, fighting's not going to do anything but waste time! And now we have to find who did this, and with what artifact, and now we don't even know _where_ it was done…" she babbled, bouncing around the circle.

Key Keeper lifted the unconscious changeling with magic. "Hold it!," cried Applejack. "We can't move him unless we can bring the artifact with us. We don't want him to go into a coma…or worse." Key Keeper let out a groan, "I suppose we should leave him here to trip over, then, while we focus on learning information that doesn't even remotely help us! IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE IT WAS DONE, OR WHICH ARTIFACT THEY USED!"

Fluttershy cowered and whimpered, "T-there's no need to shout." Key Keeper snapped, "I'M NOT SHOUTING!" A small pause as the ponies glanced at each other. "ALRIGHT, I AM! I'M SHOUTING, I'M SHOUTING, I'M SHOUT-" he was cut off as the balloon-shaped gem, now actively glowing, hit him in the back of the head. His knees crumpled and he fell to the ground.

Rainbow hovered next to the top of the bathroom's doorframe, dusting her hooves against each other. "We don't have time to be freaking out here," she snapped, "now stop yelling and let's take him to the Study." Twilight levitated QC and the gem carefully, giving Rainbow a glare. "You really should be more careful with these. We don't want them damaged." Rainbow landed, looking sheepish. "Sorry."

They headed back, Sugar Belle helping the stunned Key Keeper, who was rubbing at a lump on his head. Twilight placed both victims flat on the couches, the gems tied to their front hooves with handkerchiefs donated by Rarity. Rainbow stood at the desk, facing the others. Taking charge again, she asked, "Okay. Who had access to the balloon gem?"

Pinkie waved her hoof high in the air. "Oh! It was given to me, but I dropped it when we ran to the Kitchen! And you and Applejack dropped yours then! And Fluttershy dropped hers before the lights went out, Rarity dropped hers after she drank the water, and Twilight had dropped hers in the dark!" She beamed at the group, who looked at her in awe.

Applejack shook her head and groaned, burying her face into her hat. "So basically, everyone had access to all of the artifacts. So we don't know who did it." The others all groaned at this. Fluttershy let out a small, scared "I didn't do it."

Key Keeper walked around the room, gathering the gems. "I think we should lock these up. The star, the butterfly, the apple, and the lightning bolt gems. There's some…maniac about, using dark magic, and we need to keep these out of their hooves." The ponies cheered in agreement as he placed the dim gems in the cupboard and locked it.

The cheers stopped as he started to place the key on his key ring. "What are you doing with that?," asked Fluttershy. "Putting it on my key ring," he stated obviously. "Why?," questioned Fluttershy suspiciously. "To keep it safe, of course."

Rarity approached, stating, "That means you can open it whenever you want." "And it means that you can't." Rarity continued as the others surrounded him. "What if you're the one behind this?" The others gasped. "I'm not!," protested Key Keeper.

"But what if you _are!,"_ exclaimed Rainbow, giving him a small shove. Key Keeper stuttered, "I-If I've got it, I know…I'm…safe?" He gulped as the seven glaring mares surrounded him. A flicker of magic flowed through Twilight's horn.

After another gulp, he stuttered again, "Hey! Let's throw it away! That sounds much much safer." The mares cheered, and Key Keeper was swept along with the herd as they rushed to the front door. He was pushed to the front of the crowd, and he began to sweat as he felt their eyes and hooves pressing on his back.

He lifted the key up high with his magic, brought it back into a ready-to-throw position, and flung open the door.


	8. Time is Ticking

"Woah woah WOAH!" cried the orange pegasus on the doorstep, waving her hooves. Key Keeper froze, dropping the key. The group was frozen for a second, shocked, before they all tried to give warm smiles to the stranger. Key Keeper levitated the key from the ground into his pocket, laughing nervously, "Sorry…sorry…"

With a small cough, he recovered and straightened up. "Is there anything we can do to help you, miss?" The pegasus held out a soggy blob of paper. "Well, my map was ruined with this rain, so could you let me use your phone?" Key Keeper opened his mouth to reply, but Rainbow grabbed his shoulder. "Excuse us for one second," she said before turning the stallion around.

The group exchanged hushed, furious whispers. The pegasus glanced between the odd group and the path with her purple-pink eyes. Before she could mull over her choices, Key Keeper turned back around with a large smile on his face. "Certainly, miss." He opened the door a little wider for her. She cautiously stepped in.

"Name's Scootaloo," she said, shaking Key Keeper's hoof. "So, um, where is it?" "W-where's what?," stuttered Key Keeper nervously. She looked at him confusedly. "The…phone?"

"Oh!," he cried, "YES, there's a phone in the Lounge. I'll show you." He guided her to a door opposite of the Study, which the others formed a wall in front of. "Perhaps you would be kind enough to wait here after your call." Scootaloo nodded and went towards the phone, Key Keeper closing the door behind her. She froze when she heard the click of a lock.

On the other side of the door, Key Keeper checked and doubled-checked the locked door with sweaty, shaky hooves. Rainbow flew over and tapped him on the shoulder. He yelped and leapt in the air as he spun around, holding his chest. "Where's the key?," demanded Rainbow.

"It's on my ring of keys," wheezed Key Keeper. Twilight rolled her eyes, saying, "Not the Lounge key, the key to the cupboard! With the weapons!" Key Keeper scanned the group, asking, "Do you still want me to throw it away?" The group shouted, "YES!," and he was once again shoved in front of the door.

He took the small, simple, lone key out of his pocket and threw it out into the damp darkness. The ponies ears flicked up at the chiming sound of metal against cement. In a second, any outside sound but the pouring rain was drowned away.

Key Keeper quickly shut the door, using a bit of magic to expel moisture that had been let in. He quickly relocked the front doors. Applejack swiped for the keys, but he pulled them out of her reach. "Let me out!," she cried, "if Ah'm caught here, what'll happen to my family? They could be investigated, blamed for something they didn't do!" Key Keeper kept the keys floating out of her reach.

"No. We're all in this together, now. We have to find out who did it," exclaimed Key Keeper. Rarity pointed out, "You know whoever flees first will be blamed." The others began to mutter in agreement. "Even if we don't suggest it, the Royal Guard will still think it, darling."

Applejack threw her hat to the ground, grunting, "I wish you hadn't invited us. Everything was going fine!" "Aside from blackmail, yes," replied Key Keeper. She glared at him and picked her hat back up.

Rainbow sighed. "I could use a drink." The others muttered in agreement. She flew towards the Library, but stopped in front of the Study door to peek in. "Everything alright?," asked Rarity. Rainbow nodded. "Just checking. Two unmoved, unconscious victims, everything's cool."

The group gathered in the doorway of the Library, where Rainbow had pulled out a liter of some apple-flavored soda. She cracked it open and began to guzzle it straight from the bottle. She quickly pulled away, tongue out of her mouth. "Bleh! That doesn't taste anywhere near as good as cider." She looked to the others. "Anypony want any?"

The others shook their heads. All but Pinkie, who was helping herself to the dessert platter. Rainbow tossed aside the bottle, where it began to spill on the carpet. Key Keeper looked forlorn. Rainbow opened her mouth, but looked around to see that the others were busy looking over drink menus (provided by Sugar Belle).

She flew over to the group and knocked them out of their hooves. "Pay attention! No time to waste!," she shouted. Everypony turned to watch her. She flew to Key Keeper, who had been creeping towards the spill. "Key Keeper, am I right in thinking there's nopony else in this house?"

Key Keepers eyes gazed past her, the terrible staining spill reflecting in them. "Mmm…no." He tried to move past her, but she moved in front of him again. "So there IS somepony else in this house?," she asked. His attention snapped to her. "Hm? Sorry, I said 'no' meaning 'yes'."

Rainbow glared at him. "'No' meaning 'yes'? Look. Is there somepony else or not, yes or no." Key Keeper craned his neck to look over her shoulder. "No." "No there _is,_ or no there _isn't_?!" "Yes."

Applejack slammed her hoof on the table, knocking over and shattering an empty glass. "PLEASE!," she shouted. Everypony looked at her, except Key Keeper, who took the chance to furiously scrub at the spill. Applejack continued, "Shouldn't we get that mare out of this house before she gets tied up in this, or find out what happened?"

Fluttershy whimpered, "Oh, but we can't send someone so young back out in this weather. They could get sick!" Twilight looked at her, saying, "She's a young adult, not a foal. But still, we can't send them out in this kind of weather." A crash of lightning came to emphasize her point. Fluttershy yelped and ducked under the table, making two more glasses fall off as she bumped against the legs.

Pinkie screwed up in face in a serious manner- an effect partially ruined by the powdered sugar covering her muzzle. "If she stays here…" she drew out, "she cooouuld get _suspicious."_ Twilight groaned, "Well then, if we kick her out, she'll be MORE suspicious!" Rainbow grunted, "She's probably suspious of us already."

Rarity, who had stood in the doorway the whole time, shouted, "Oh, who cares! She'll make her phone call and leave, while we stay locked in here for another half an hour waiting for the Royal Guard, and there are two dark magic victims in the Study!," she finished with a wail. The others shushed her. Fluttershy came out from under the table to soothe her as she cried from stress.

Rainbow grabbed at Key Keeper's collar. "Well, there is still some confusion here about whether there is anypony else in this house," she growled. Key Keeper pulled away, saying, "I told you, there isn't." "Isn't any confusion, or anypony else?," she asked with a glare. "Either. Or both."

"Just give me a straight answer!," she cried. "Certainly," said Key Keeper, as he straightened up and smoothed out his coat. "What was the question again?" "Is there anypony else in this house?"

"NO!," shouted everypony.

Rainbow was unfazed, and began to pace. "That's what you say. But do we really know?" She turned to face the group and clapped her hooves together. "I suggest we do this in military fashion- split up and search the area." She glanced at a wall clock. "We have less than half an hour to do this, so I suggest we split into pairs."

Twilight looked at her in alarm. "Dark magic can corrupt the soul," she stated, "and if we split into pairs, whoever's left with the criminal could get attacked, even if they couldn't get their hooves on the gems!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at her. _"Then_ we would have figured out who did it!"

Rarity cried out, "But the other half of the pair would be hurt! Or worse!" She gave panicked, heaving breaths. Rainbow strode over to her. "This is war, Dapperpaws! Casualties are inevitable, you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs, as any cook would say." Rarity sniveled, "B-b-but look what happened to the cook!" She began to cry as Fluttershy and Pinkie patted her on the back.

Twilight tapped Rainbow on the shoulder. "Are you willing to take that chance, Rainbow?" She grunted in reply, "Do we have any other choice?" Nopony said anything. Rarity stopped crying, wiping away her tears.

Rainbow flew back up into the air. "Alright! I want to do a flying sweep, so you're with me, Flutters!" Fluttershy squeaked, "Um…I can't fly right now." She gestured to her tightly bandaged left wing. Rainbow groaned, "I don't see a splint- are you sure it's totally unusable?" Fluttershy nodded sadly.

Pinkie bounced over to Rainbow. "I'm super duper fast, so I could keep up with you!" Twilight pointed out, "I've mastered teleportation, so I could keep up as well." And so a discussion like this continued, with all the guests talking over each other.

Key Keeper brought their attention to him by tapping the rim of one of the surviving glasses with a bundle of long matchsticks. Once all eyes were on him, he levitated the bundle in the air. "I believe the best method," she stated, "is to draw lots for partners."

He easily snapped the matches into varying lengths and placed them between his hooves. He held them up to the group, saying, "The shortest together, the next two shortest together, and so on. Plus," he interjected as Pinkie eagerly grabbed a match, "We can figure out what part of the house to explore. With the shortest pair of matches exploring the cellar, and so on."

One by one, the ponies grabbed their matches and found their partner with some quiet murmuring. After a minute, the ponies knew who they were with and where they were going, and so left the Library.

Rarity walked alongside Twilight, mumbling about how she didn't what to go down into the cellar, filled with dark and damp and vermin. Rainbow and Pinkie contemplated where to search on the ground floor. Pinkie was pouting about the "unfairness" of being unable to explore a new area. Key Keeper and Applejack headed upstairs silently and stoically. Sugar Belle and Fluttershy went up to the attic silently, but not stoically- their legs wouldn't stop shaking, actually.

And so the dinner party split up. In the back of their minds they all sensed that time was quickly running out.


	9. Why You Shouldn't Split the Party

Rainbow slowly turned in the air, looking at all the doors on their floor. "Okay," she declared, "We know what's in the Study, and the Lounge is locked."

Pinkie, holding a map in her hooves and a red marker in her mane, waved one hoof in the air. "Why don't we check," she jabbed her hoof randomly on the paper, "That one?" Rainbow looked over her shoulder.

"That's the Library. We _literally_ just came from there," she told Pinkie with a deadpan expression. Her response was only to silently slide her hoof to a different room. Rainbow checked. "That's the Billiard Room." She paused, then shrugged. "Well, it's as good a place to start as any."

She flew away quickly, leaving a rainbow streak behind her. Pinkie crossed the Library off of the map with a red marker and shoved them both back into her mane, cheerfully bouncing after Rainbow.

* * *

Fluttershy and Sugar Belle stood at the bottom of a rickety wooden staircase. A dim, flickering lightbulb was the only source of light. Without windows, the wind and rain sounded louder and much more foreboding.

All of this made the two unwilling to venture on. They stood there, their knees shaking and quivering.

"Y-you can go first," said Sugar Belle, "I-I-I'll be right behind you." Fluttershy shook her head.

"N-n-no, I think you should go first." She took small steps back. Sugar Belle matched her movement.

This continued until they were almost at the end of the hallway. Sugar Belle stopped suddenly. "T-this is silly," she said, "If there's two of us, we can't be hurt. L-let's go together." Fluttershy nodded. The two walked back to the stairs.

With a little squeezing, the two were able to walk up the stairs side by side. This new idea of safety in numbers helped them to relax, and by the time they were halfway up to the attic, they had stopped shaking.

A crash of thunder rang through the house.

The two mares screamed and quickly ran back down the stairs, where they huddled together.

* * *

Rarity held her hoof an inch above the first step, biting her lip. She would continuously try to place her hoof on the icky wood, only to pull it right back.

Twilight, who was watching from the bottom of the stairs, rolled her eyes. "Come on, Rarity," she groaned, "We have less than half an hour left." Rarity flinched and froze. Twilight lit up her horn, ready to use magic, before Rarity closed her eyes tightly and ran down the stairs.

She ended up crashing into Twilight. The two unicorns tumbled onto the hard, damp concrete floor. Rarity shrieked as she felt her dress absorbing the moisture. Twilight grunted and focused on keeping her horn lit to light the area.

After some struggling, Twilight got up onto her hooves. She often a hoof to Rarity, who quickly accepted it. Rarity lit her own horn. Purple and blue light reflected off of slimy walls and shiny metals, as magic that kept water flowing and lights going thrummed around them.

Twilight pointed into the dark depths of the basement. "Let's finish this quickly," she said before marching on. Rarity followed with a shiver.

* * *

Applejack and Key Keeper stopped in front of two doors. "These are the guest and master bedrooms," explained Key Keeper, "though QC really just seemed to use them for storage."

Applejack nodded. "Why don't we separate? Ah'll check this one, and you check the other. It would save time." Key Keeper put a hoof to his chin.

"It is quite sensible," he said. "Very well. Good luck in your search," he called as he entered the master bedroom. Applejack entered the guest bedroom, gulping once she saw the mountains of items piled in, veiled by shadows.

* * *

Rainbow and Pinkie trotted out of the Billiard Room. Pinkie had grabbed the billiard balls off the pool table and was juggling them as they walked along.

Rainbow was grumbling. "Nothing at all. And there's not many more rooms we can check." She flew to the nearest door, opening it and turning on the lights.

It was the large, empty Ball Room. Rainbow was about to turn away, since there was nowhere somepony could hide, when she heard a gasp and clatter from behind her. Pinkie was pointing one shaking hoof at the curtains.

"There's somepony hiding there!," she said in a stage whisper. Rainbow looked at the curtains for a second and rolled her eyes. "That's just the wind." Pinkie harshly whispered, "That's just what they _want_ you to think!"

Rainbow took to the air. "Alright, you can check them. I'm going to search the Kitchen." And with that, she flew off, using the room as a shortcut. Pinkie crouched low to the ground and creep towards the shifting cloth.

The window howled, the rain pounded down, thunder rumbled. Pinkie froze as the curtains fluttered rapidly, before resuming her catlike creep.

She rose up onto her hind hooves.

She flung open the curtains with a gasp.

That gasp morphed into a disappointed "Ah!" when she saw that there was just a crack in the window, and that it was, as Rainbow had said, "Just the wind." She closed the curtains and bounced to the door.

* * *

"So there's no way somepony behind this could hide up there." "Yes." "So there's no reason why we should go." "I agree."

Fluttershy nodded to her statement. Sugar Belle looked pleased with herself. The two were still clinging onto each other, with shivers and shakes traveling down their spines and hooves.

The two sat like that for a minute. They both let out a sigh, and turned back to the stairs. With a deep breath, they rushed up together. They began to cheer and compliment each other as Sugar Belle began to open the door to the attic.

A crash of thunder rang out again.

With a shriek, Fluttershy fell backward, landing in awkward heap at the foot of the stairs, while Sugar Belle fell forward, sending a cloud of dust up as she landed in the attic. The two lay dazed.

* * *

Twilight paused as they walked. Rarity, after noticing the light becoming dimmer, turned around. "Twilight?," she called. Twilight flinched and turned to her.

"I was running a few scans," she explained, "And this part of the wall is somehow different from the rest." Rarity came back quickly to look. Examining the wall closely, she pointed to something- a seam, barely noticeable, that separated that section from the rest of the wall.

Twilight's horn glowed brighter, and Rarity quickly stepped away. "I'm going to see what this is," said Twilight. "Why don't you go on ahead?"

Rarity opened her mouth, about to protest being alone down here- it was damp, and she swore she heard rats- but the sheer heat and light of Twilight's gathering power made her close her mouth and continue.

The sound of magic blasting and stone crumbling echoed behind her.

* * *

A hoof pulled out a key, unlocking the wooden cupboard with a soft click. The figure gently lifted up one of the gems- the red lightning bolt. They began to hurry out of the room.

The figure paused at the door, turning back to the desk. With one swift motion, six folders and two tape recordings were in the fireplace. A shower of sparks flew over the carpet as the flames flared and devoured the items.

The figure rushed out of the door without pause or hesitation.

* * *

"I'm a bit nervous," said Scootaloo over the phone. She kept glancing around the room. "Can you get me the directions quickly? I really don't want to be here for too long."

A pause in the conversation. Scootaloo soon replied, "Well, it's a really creepy mansion, and I've been locked into the Lounge." She grabbed a pen in her hoof, focusing on writing on the paper in front of her. She stopped glancing around.

The fireplace began to slowly, silently open on its hidden hinges. A figure crept slowly out as Scootaloo kept talking and writing. "Well, there's some ponies here who seem to be having some kind of party. And one of them is-"

She suddenly whirled around as the figure stepped on a creaky floorboard. She inhaled to scream.

A blast of red magic came from the gem, wrapping around her head, quickly consolidating into a thin rope as she lost consciousness.

As Scootaloo crumpled, that rope of light faded. The figure gently placed the gem on her chest, and hung up the phone with a soft click.

The figure zipped back through the closing fireplace, rushing to get back to their half of the pair.


	10. Trapped and Panicked

Rainbow and Pinkie met in front of the Conservatory. "Anything?," asked Rainbow. Pinkie shook her head. Grumbling, Rainbow opened the door. Pinkie bounced in, with Rainbow following, a sullen look on her face.

She ranted as Pinkie sniffed at a cocoa bean pod. "This is ridiculous! How could somepony hide on this floor anyway? It's a wide open area with nine rooms! We would have seen them by now!" She curled up on the floor with a pout. "What was I even thinking?"

She suddenly stood and began to pace as Pinkie spat out several of the beans. Rainbow's hoof came in contact with a small pebble. Out of reflex, she gave it a kick. It sailed through the air in a large, graceful arc, while both ponies' eyes followed.

It came in contact with the glass.

Both ponies were shocked when a green beam of magic shot out, charring a hole where Rainbow's hoof had been a second ago. She leapt back with a yelp, her back pressed against the brick wall.

A second surprise came when that wall opened inwards, causing Rainbow to fall onto the floor with another yell.

She stood up briskly as Pinkie cautiously approached, keeping an eye on the glass. "A secret passage!," she said in a hushed whisper. "Where do you think it leads?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "We don't have to whisper, Pinkie. There's nopony here."

"They could be lying in wait in there!," she pointed with a shaky hoof.

"With what kind of weapon? We have more things to use in a fight, if we need to retreat back here," Rainbow pointed to the wall of sharp gardening tools. She started to fly in, but Pinkie grabbed her tail.

"Don't go! It could be a unicorn with freaky magic waiting!"

Rainbow turned to her, annoyed. "Look, there's no danger!," she exclaimed as her hoof swung out, knocking over a burlap sack. It fell onto the ground, a large cloud of dirt and dust floating up from it.

Their eyes widened slowly as the cloud began to drift towards the window. Rainbow grabbed Pinkie under her forehooves and flew down the dark passage, leaving a rainbow streak. Sounds of magic and flashes of green light came from behind them.

Rainbow flew so quickly, she smashed her nose against the brick wall at the end of the corridor. She flew to the ground and dropped Pinkie, rubbing at her sore muzzle. Pinkie stood up to inspect the door. "Interesting…this is too 'bricky' to be a disguised pony…" she mumbled to herself.

Before Rainbow could groan, Pinkie screamed, making her jump into the air. She stood on her back hooves, forehooves in a fighting position, only to find that the wall had opened in front of them like a door.

She sent a small glare to Pinkie, who sheepishly grinned back. Playfully rolling her eyes, Rainbow stepped forward, Pinkie following her.

"This looks like a new room," Pinkie commented as she gazed at the soft couches and pale carpet. When she got no reply, she looked at Rainbow, who was staring forward with a blank look on her face. "What's- OH MY CELESTIA!," shrieked Pinkie as she followed her gaze.

Laying on the carpet was Scootaloo, her eyes wide open and grey. Rainbows knees buckled, and she partially collapsed, before she gained a burst of energy and ran towards the young pegasus. She frantically checked for a breath and a pulse.

They both sighed in relief when she found that while her breath was shallow and pulse slow, she was still alive.

The two heard a click behind them. They whirled around to find that their entrance, the fireplace, had closed itself.

Pinkie let out the loudest scream of the night. Upstairs, Fluttershy and Sugar Belle leapt up onto their hooves. Sugar Belle half-ran, half-tripped down the stairs, and the two ran through the hall side by side.

They fell into a heap as Applejack and Key Keeper burst out of the bedrooms and ran into them.

The pile of ponies got back up onto their hooves quickly, incited by the continued shrieks. "What's happening?," wailed Fluttershy as the four ran down the stairs. They slid across the tile floor from their momentum, only stopped from crashing into the wall by magenta magic.

An exhausted Twilight leaned against Rarity for support as the two came from the cellar. She quickly dropped her magic when they were safe, giving her smoking horn some rest.

"Where are they at?," Applejack pressed. Pinkie's screaming grew louder, and banging came from the other side of the Lounge door.

"The Lounge!," exclaimed Key Keeper, pulling his ring of keys out of his pocket. The ponies gathered around him as he inserted the key into the lock.

The handle began to violently shake, Rainbow calling out, "Get us out of here!" The jostling causing the key ring to fall onto the fall. Key Keeper gasped, "My organized key ring! No!"

Fluttershy picked it up quickly, handing it to the butler, who cradled it like a wounded bird. "My organization…" he sobbed. "Now I don't now which key is which! They all look the same!" The ponies gasped. Pinkies screams shifted to wails.

"It's okay, we'll find something, darling!," shouted Rarity. She turned to Twilight. "Any ideas?" Twilight brought a hoof up to her chin, making a small hum. Her horn smoked and sparked.

"I could try…" she trailed off as she grunted and activated her horn. For a second, magic surrounded the lock, wrapping itself around the tumblers and mechanisms. But just like with QC's escape attempt, her magic slid off. "It's no good," she bemoaned. "I could blast it, bypassing the anti-magic effect with a greater magic quantity than it can handle, but I don't have enough energy. It'll take hours to recover the needed power."

Rarity turned to Key Keeper. "Oh, haven't you found the key yet?" He whirled to her. "My system is _violated,"_ he moaned. "It'll take _days_ for me to recover." Rarity let out a low growl of annoyance.

From the other side of the door, Rainbow yelled, "That's IT! Time to bust our way out!" A second later, there was a loud thud, and the door shook, but remained locked. A pained and irritated groan came from Rainbow.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack discussed what to do. Key Keeper mourned, Twilight massaged her horn, and Pinkie kept shrieking and banging on the door. Suddenly, Sugar Belle gasped suddenly. "Twilight, could you use a power source to recharge your magic?" Twilight thought for a second before nodding slowly.

Sugar Belle grinned and galloped into the study. When she came back, levitating an object with her, everypony quickly backed away once they saw it- the magenta star gem. Fluttershy whimpered and huddled on the ground.

"What are you doing with that?!," yelled Twilight. Sugar Belle levitated it over to her, replying, "You said it was powerful. Can't you use it to power up for one blast?" Twilight stayed silent, her mouth twisting, before she finally took the artifact into her own aura.

She backed away from the door. The crowd quickly stepped a good distance away themselves, Applejack pulling back the huddling Fluttershy by her tail. Twilight drew energy from the gem, magenta magic flowing into her horn. Sparking and sputtering, it shone with a bright light, one that made everypony who glanced at it shiver and tremble.

Pinkie suddenly stopped screaming, leaning down to look through the keyhole. "Ooh, bright!," she said, before having the breath knocked out of her lungs as Rainbow tackled her to the side.

A bolt of blinding magenta light blew the handle and lock across the room, leaving a smoking hole in the doors. They slowly creaked open. Applejack rushed to catch Twilight as she crumpled from exhaustion, dropping the gem onto the floor.

Rainbow and Pinkie stepped out of the Lounge. "You guys," wailed Pinkie, grabbing Rarity and Sugar Belle, "Just look!" And she dragged them into the room, showing them the unconscious Scootaloo. Everypony gathered around the pegasus and began to murmur.

"Did you-" Rarity started as she tied the lightning gem to Scootaloo's forehoof with a handkerchief. Pinkie's eyes widened, and she answered, "No! We just searched the Conservatory and made a mess and flew down the secret passage and found her…together!," she finished. Rainbow nodded.

Key Keeper, who had been shifting the keys along the key ring, suddenly looked up. "Sugar Belle," he stated blankly, "how did you get that gem from the cupboard?" Sugar Belle said, "It…it was unlocked. And open." Everypony's eyes became wife with horror, and they ran to the Study.

The cupboard was open. Only the apple and butterfly shaped gems were left. "How did you know it was open?," Rarity questioned nervously. Sugar Belle gasped, "I didn't! I was going to unlock it with magic! I just remembered how Twilight said they could have other properties, and thought it could be a power source!"

Applejack stepped up. "Everypony, calm down. We have three cases to figure out now, and less time than we did before." She looked around the room. "Now, which pair can say they were with their partner the entire time?"

Nopony raised their hooves. Applejack facepalmed. "Seriously? We split into pairs, and y'all split your groups?" Fluttershy mumbled under her breath, "I didn't do it…intentionally."

They all froze as the doorbell rang. Pinkie whispered, "Maybe they'll just go away." Rainbow nodded, raising a hoof to hos lips in a "shushing" gesture. The entire group held their breath. The doorbell rang again, and then again.

Fluttershy trembled before quietly stating, "I'm going to open it." Pinkie gasped, and Rainbow clamped her mouth shut before she could scream. "Are you crazy?!," Rainbow hissed between her teeth. Fluttershy stood tall and approached Key Keeper, taking the key ring delicately from his hoof.

The crowd stood back and watched as Fluttershy tried all the keys on the door. As one of them finally clicked, letting the door open, they held their breath.

* * *

 **I'm back!**

 **Sorry it's been so long. I kind of lost interest in the fandom for a little bit... But the new upcoming season is something I'm excited for!**

 **I'm going to (try to) update this story every weekend until it's finished. I hope I don't lose interest again...**

 **Nothing much to say about this chapter, except for a fun fact: cocoa powder, the main ingredient of chocolate, is actually bitter. Not sweet.**


	11. Here Already?

"Hello!," said the blue-maned, green-eyed pegasus standing on the doorstep. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything!"

Rainbow peered out from the crowd of ponies. "Soarin?," she asked.

The pegasus's green eyes lit up. "Rainbow? I haven't seen you in years!"

He came inside, Fluttershy quickly stepping aside. The two embraced. "I mean, I couldn't contact you after you left the Wonderbolts!," cried Rainbow, pulling away. "What have you been doing?"

Soarin rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. "Yeah, I left pretty quickly, after I became…upset we were getting involved in a war." He gave a wry smile. "After that, I found a position with a Bureau of the Royal Guard, which mostly works on investigations. They assign me to fly-bys, mostly." He coughed into a hoof. "I didn't think Spitfire would want me back in the Wonderbolts, after…I said some pretty nasty things on my way out."

Key Keeper coughed loudly. "As sweet as this reunion is," he announced, "Why is a member of the Royal Guard here?"

"And twenty minutes early," whispered Twilight.

Soarin blushed. "Well, I was flying to Canterlot, and I noticed a wagon in the rain. I just wanted to warn the owner the paint was washing off," he pointed to Pinkie's pink, glittery party wagon. Pinkie gasped and dashed out the door. The crowd of ponies was knocked onto the floor as the wagon somehow fit through the one door and slammed straight into them.

"Oh, wagon!," cried Pinkie, "Can you forgive me for leaving you out in that cold rain?" She tightly hugged a front wheel as everypony shakily got back onto their hooves. Key Keeper grumbled about the water and paint dripping on the tiles.

Once Soarin felt stable on his hooves, he asked, "I don't mean to intrude, but could I wait here until the storm passes? And perhaps use your phone, so I can call and say I'm going to be late?"

Fluttershy stepped forward, saying meekly, "Actually-"

"Of course you can, sir!," chirped Rarity.

She continued, "I saw one in the St- on wait." The ponies were silent, all glancing at Key Keeper, who was closing and locking the front door.

Pinkie pulled away from giving her wagon kisses, turning to the group to say, "Wasn't there one in the Lo-" she stopped as everypony shook their heads, and quickly shut her mouth.

Sugar Belle suddenly cried, "Oh! I think I saw one in the Library!"

"The Library!," cried the crowd in relief.

Soarin looked at the group, bewildered. He shook it off and turned to Sugar Belle. "Well thank you, Miss…" he gazed at her, "Do I know you from somewhere?" Sugar Belle shrugged.

Key Keeper stepped forward. "I'll show you to the Library, sir." With that, he turned and marched forward into the mansion. Soarin followed, giving the group nervous glances.

Everypony's head whirled when they heard a door slam. The door to the Lounge, with a hole still smoldering, was closed. Pinkie was attempting to lean casually on the doorframe, trying to inconspicuously hold the door shut. Everypony but Soarin and Key Keeper winced at how badly the attempt was failing.

Soarin's attention was brought away when he heard a soft click from behind him. The door to the Study was closed, with nopony near it. As he tried to remember whether it had been open in the first place, an exhausted Twilight leaned against Applejack for support.

Key Keeper coughed lightly. "Sir, if you please…" Soarin turned to follow Key Keeper, glancing at the oddly behaving group. They quickly came to the Library. Key Keeper held the door open for Soarin. "Please help yourself to soda and snacks while you wait." Soarin nodded and reached for a pastry.

His ears flicked at the sound of a lock clicking behind him. He froze, thinking of the odd behavior of the ponies, and set the pastry back down onto the plate.

Outside the door, Key Keeper turned to the others. "What now?" He whispered.

Fluttershy whimpered, "Oh, we should have told him."

Rarity gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder, whispering reassuringly, "Oh, darling, don't worry. We'll figure this out on our own."

Key Keeper rapped his hoof on the ground. "If nopony has any ideas, why don't we keep searching?"

Fluttershy whimpered, "Oh, please don't make us go back to the attic!"

Rainbow groaned, "There is _nothing_ on the ground floor."

Rarity shuddered and lifted up her front hooves, her face blank.

Key Keeper sighed. "Does anypony have _any_ better ideas, then?" Fluttershy frowned and tapped at the floor, Rainbow scowled, and Rarity continued to stare forward with a blank, horrified expression.

They all froze as a phone rang.

Inside the Library, Soarin had been holding his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything. He jumped into the air as the phone rang behind him.

He flew over and picked it the receiver. "Hello?," he greeted nervously.

"Hello!," greeted the male voice on the line. "Could I talk to the most important pony in the house, please?"

Soarin paused. "Um, would that be the homeowner?"

"Oh, no!," chirped the voice, "Just ask for the most important pony. I'll wait."

In the background, a female voice shouted, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Why, I'm calling-"

Soarin heard them shriek, and then the sound of jostled movement. "Look, just get them on the phone, would you!?"

Soarin dropped the phone as shouting and screaming started. He rushed to the door, desperately shaking the door handles. "Let me out!," he cried, "You don't have a right to shut me in! Why's everypony acting so strange!? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?"

He almost fell on his face when Key Keeper opened the door. He quickly rushed out of the room. "Why'd you lock me in?," he demanded, "And why are you getting weird calls asking for 'the most important pony'?"

The group turned to mutter among themselves. Key Keeper stepped into the room. "I don't know about 'most important', but I can see what they want." He closed and locked the Library doors behind him. Soarin turned to the group of ponies.

"Okay, what is going on here?" The ponies laughed nervously. Pinkie bounced close to him, throwing a forehoof over his neck.

"We're having a PARTY!," she exclaimed. The others quickly nodded in agreement. Soarin shrugged the pink pony off.

"Alright, then. Mind if I look around?" The group exchanged glances.

Pinkie chirped, "Sure you can! Why doesn't, um…" she scanned the group. "Fluttershy give you the tour!"

Fluttershy squeaked, "Me!?"

"Sure!," replied Pinkie, "You're really nice, so you can tell him nice things about the Kitchen, and the Dining Room, and the Ball Room…" she shoved Fluttershy next to Soarin.

Fluttershy gulped, "O-okay. Soarin, I can show you the Kitchen…and Dining Room…and Ball Room…" the two slowly walked off.

Pinkie ran to her wagon as soon as the two were out of sight. She began to pull out all sorts of items- streamers, games, snacks- and throwing them to the others. "Study…Lounge…Lounge…Study…" she mumbled as she dug through.

She popped back up. "Okay! That should make it convincing enough!" She dashed towards the Study, pushing the group with her.

* * *

Soarin and Fluttershy stood in the Dining Room. Soarin stiffled a yawn as Fluttershy continued, "-now, this color of curtain was an odd choice, considering the color of the wallpaper, but the two match in style, so it was actually a good choice on the part of the designer. Now, the chairs-"

Soarin held up a hoof. Fluttershy stopped talking. "As fascinating as this tour is," said Soarin, "I'm actually interested in what's going on in the two rooms."

Fluttershy froze. "W-w-what two rooms?," she stuttered.

Soarin gave her a look. "The two rooms you all were nervous about? The two rooms whose doors were suddenly shut?"

Fluttershy glanced away. "I-I don't know what you mean. D-do you want to see the Kitchen now?"

Soarin grunted and walked out the door. Fluttershy followed, asking, "W-where are you going?"

* * *

Pinkie ran from the Study to the Lounge, carrying the tired Twilight with her.

"Are you…sure this could work?," gasped Twilight. "If it doesn't…"

"Absapositively!," chirped Pinkie. "We just need to get the Lounge ready, too!"

They went into the Lounge, closing the doors behind them.

* * *

Soarin marched towards the Study, Fluttershy following behind him. "And, and I haven't shown you how well-kept the Kitchen is! It's actually very impressive!"

Soarin ignored her and came to the Study door. Before he could open it, Fluttershy flew in front of him, surprising him by shouting, "No!" She trembled in front of the door, standing on her back hooves, forehooves extended across the doorframe.

Soarin spoke to her gently, "Why can't I go in?"

Fluttershy trembled harder, her mouth opening and closing. "Because…it's because…we…QC…I just _can't_ let you in!," she cried.

He grunted and pushed past her. As he grabbed the handle, Fluttershy collapsed and held her hooves over her eyes, fearing she had failed everypony. He seized the opportunity quickly, pushing the handle down and opening the door.


	12. Just Having a Good Time

"Ah'll guess…Mr. Green, in the Hall, with the Revolver," said Applejack.

Fluttershy's jaw dropped and Soarin's eyebrows rose. The Study was covered in streamers and balloons- white, green, yellow, red, blue, and purple. The desk was now covered with platters of pie and cookies.

In the middle of the floor, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity were sitting around a board game. There were three game pieces on it- white, yellow, and blue- and the three ponies were holding cards. Next to each of them was a small pencil and paper.

Applejack grabbed the packet at the center of the board. Opening it, she pulled out three cards. With a whoop of victory, she slapped them onto the board. Mr. Green, the Revolver, and the Hall. The other two groaned.

Rainbow glanced up at the two in the doorway. "Sorry we didn't wait, Flutters, but…"

"Coco was eager to play," finished Sugar Belle, who was sitting in the back. Coco was in a sitting position next to her, and her hooves held a thin, worn book in front of her face.

"She took your spot, but she guessed wrong," said Sugar Belle. "So we've just been reading these books," she held up her own copy. "Pinkie had them. It's a series based on the game."

Soarin was staring intently at the board game and books. "What kind of party is this?," he asked. The ponies laughed nervously.

"A…a party themed around this game!," Rarity exclaimed. "I mean, the décor matches the colors of the characters!" The others quickly agreed.

He frowned and began to poke around the room. Fluttershy jumped as he gave out a cry. "What is _this!"_ He held up QC, who was covered with strips of black paper and black paint. Over his eyes were taped green paper circles.

"Um…" the group turned to look at each other. A piece of candy fell out of QC's mouth.

"It's a piñata!," exclaimed Fluttershy in realization.

"Oh, so that's what Pinkie-" Sugar Belle covered her mouth with a hoof, but Soarin already noticed.

"Pinkie? Is she the one who brought this?," the group nodded.

"Is there something wrong with it, Soarin?," asked Rainbow nervously.

Soarin sighed, "There's nothing wrong, per say…but imagine if you invited a changeling! How do you think they would feel about this?" He gave QC another shake, causing him to shed paper and candy.

The ponies rubbed at their upper forelegs. Fluttershy mumbled, "Um, they'd feel…bad?"

Soarin nodded and dropped QC, who landed in a heap of paper and chocolate. "Now, how does this insensitive item fit into a board game party?"

Sugar Belle squeaked, "Um…you'd have to ask Pinkie that." He hummed in thought.

"Alright. Where is…" he trailed off as his eyes drifted towards Coco…who hadn't said a word, who hadn't even moved! His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The ponies held their breath as Soarin marched over. He placed a hoof on top of the book's spine. The ponies squirmed, and Sugar Belle inched away.

"Soarin!," shouted Rainbow. "Pinkie brought apple pie. You want a slice?"

Soarin's head snapped to Rainbow, who was standing next to the desk, holding a plate with a slice of apple pie on it. He quickly dashed over, his face lit up like a foal's on Hearth's Warming.

He ignored Rainbow offering the plate, and instead began eating the pie right out of the pie tin! In less than a minute, he was already licking crumbs off of his muzzle, the pin tin sparkling clean. "Are you going to finish that?," he asked Rainbow, pointing to the slice.

She playfully rolled her eyes and handed it to him. He began to much away at it, savoring it more this time. "Mmm. Tastes…familiar," he commented with his mouth full.

Applejack pointed to the door. "Pinkie's in the Lounge," she stated. Sweat was appearing on everypony's brow, as the book was slowly slipping from Coco's hooves. Soarin ignored the statement and nervous atmosphere, content to tuck into his little slice of pie.

"I think she might have more apple pie in there!," continued Applejack, her voice wavering. Soarin's ears pricked up, and he flew out the door and across the Hall. Rainbow quickly stepped in front of Coco quickly. The small book fell to the floor, and Coco started to slump over onto Rainbow.

While she, Rarity, and Sugar Belle tried to get her back into position, Applejack ran over to check on QC and the balloon gem. Fluttershy peered out of the door, watching Soarin on his mission for pie.

* * *

"Does everything look good?," Twilight asked Pinkie. She had organized small bottles of soda in an ice box, and arranged pies a table. Even though she had'nt used any magic, she still felt so exhausted, and her horn ached right from its core.

Pinkie looked up from her "work" on Scootaloo. She had closed the young pegasus's eyes and tilted her head back onto the back of the comfy chair. A half-empty bottle of soda was placed into her right hoof, and her muzzle was covered in sticky soda and crumbs.

"Looks good, Twilight!," she chirped. "And with Scootaloo showing signs of a soda and sugar binge, everything should be as non-suspicious as possible!" She bounced back and gazed around the room, smiling to herself.

Suddenly, a look of horror crossed her face. "What is it?," wheezed the tired Twilight.

Pinkie whimpered, "I designed this as a snack corner, when there's snacks in the Study! This room has no main attraction to draw ponies to it! That's über-suspicious, not non-suspicious!" She ran over to the doors, but gasped again when she saw Soarin approaching at a high speed.

"There's no time!" A determined look crossed her face. Twilight slowly walked over to her. Pinkie looked at her and cried, "Time for Operation: M.O.S!"

"What's-" Twilight was cut off as Pinkie tackled her, ramming her lips forcefully against hers. The two fell backwards onto the couch behind them. Pinkie acted with gusto, pressing her lips and tongue against and around Twilight's mouth, rubbing her back tenderly with her hooves.

Twilight lay there, her eyes wide with shock. Pinkie started to making moaning noises from the back of her throat, wrapping her back legs around Twilight's middle.

Twilight thanked Celestia, Luna, and every other princess there ever was when Soarin burst through the door. "Pinkie-!," he shouted, before his mouth clamped shut, his sky blue face turning cherry red.

Pinkie pulled away from Twilight, licking her lips. "Yes~?," she purred. Soarin stared blankly, his face still red.

"I-I didn't mean to interrupt," he started. "But I just came here to say a changeling piñata is very inappropriate, and to grab some pie," he said hurriedly.

Pinkie smiled. "Sorry. The changeling was all the store had. Pie's right there," she pointed with a hoof. Soarin ran over and grabbed three pies, quickly turning to the door. As he rushed out, he paused by Scootaloo's chair, gazing at her closed eyes and open muzzle. He spotted the soda bottle.

"Hm. Soda binge." He turned the Pinkie, "She's not going home alone in this state, is she?" Pinkie shook her head, bringing her muzzle closer to Twilight's. Soarin blushed again and rushed out of the room, balancing his pies.

Once the door was closed, Twilight recovered from shock, and pushed Pinkie onto the floor. "What in Tartarus was that!?," she demanded, wiping her mouth with a hoof.

Pinkie shrugged. "Make out sessions are always a plausible reason for rooms away from the party to be occupied."

Twilight shuddered and continued to wipe at her mouth. "Never do that again," she commanded.

Pinkie beamed and nodded, replying, "Could you tell me what lipstick you use? It tastes good."

* * *

Key Keeper tapped his hoof impatiently as the shouting and fighting to the other side of the phone died down. The caller began to pant on the line, "Hey…are you…there?"

"I'm here," replied Key Keeper curtly. "Now, what do you mean by 'most important pony'?"

The caller hummed and said, "Well, what's your name?"

"I'm Key Keeper. I'm the butler of this residence. Its homeowner is currently busy."

"Well, the homeowner's not who I need." A pause on the line.

"Sir?," asked Key Keeper, "What was your message?"

"Oh," said the voice, "I can only tell the most important pony."

A vein pulsed above Key Keeper's right eye. "Could you just…tell me the name of who you need?"

"Nope!," chirped the voice.

Key Keeper growled, "I've waited for five minutes, and you-" the caller hung up with a click. Key Keeper slammed the phone down.

He walked out of the Library. He leaned against the doors, rubbing his forehead and sighing. He glanced up weakly as Soarin approached, holding three pies. "You all should have just told me it was a party!," he exclaimed, "I don't know why you were nervous. It's not like the Royal Guard is anti-fun!"

He saw Key Keeper's annoyed expression. "How…how did the phone call go?," he asked.

Key Keeper groaned. "I do believe," he growled, "We just got a prank call."

Soarin shuffled his tower of pies. "Um, could I make my phone call now?" Key Keeper stepped aside to let him in, closing and locking the door behind him. He quickly made his way to the Study.

He sighed when he saw the decorations and "disguised" victims. "I hope you don't think that will fool the Royal Guard when they _actually_ arrive in fifteen minutes," he said as Pinkie and Twilight came in behind him. Pinkie hung her head.

"Now," continued Key Keeper, "Let's continue our search. Without complaint," he added as several opened their mouths to protest. Though there was grumbling, the group obediently trundled off to their areas.

* * *

Rainbow and Pinkie were searching the Kitchen. While Rainbow shuffled through bags of frozen veggies in disinterest, Pinkie was poking and prodding at every odd and end she could find.

"What are you doing?," questioned Rainbow.

Pinkie smiled and replied, "Looking for the secret passage!"

Rainbow groaned, "Look, we just found one. Who'd be crazy enough to have two?"

Just as she said that, Pinkie pulled on a hook in the fridge, causing the back of the fridge to open inwards. She shot a smug look towards Rainbow, whose eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Well, I guess QC was a pretty crazy guy."

Pinkie bounced down the dark corridor, Rainbow flying at a slow pace behind her.

In a minute, the two came to a wall. Pinkie eagerly pushed it open. The ponies excitement grew as light came into the tunnel, the door slowly opening, showing they were in…

The Study.

The two groaned with disappointment. "Let's check the Ball Room. Again," groaned Rainbow. Pinkie nodded, and the two left the overly-decorated room.

* * *

Outside the cellar, there lay a large switch. It had been noticed by ponies, but nopony had paid much attention to it.

But somepony did.

A hoof reached for the lever. With one swift motion, the switch went from the up position to the down position.

Every light in the mansion winked out.

* * *

 **There actually is a series of books called Clue, based off the board game! They're one of those "solve the puzzle/mystery yourself" books, with ten mysteries in each book.**

 **I don't actually ship Twilight and Pinkie. I just thought it was a funny way to do that scene from the movie.**


	13. Dark, Dark, Dark

Fluttershy yelped when the dim lights of the attic winked out. She and Sugar Belle had finally gone up the stairs under Key Keeper's annoyed gaze. She had not been so scared, but now, in the dark, dusty boxes cast large, looming shadows. Wind howled and gripped her in its cold claws, and she was unable to see where it had entered.

"At l-least we have each other, right, Sugar Belle?," she said to her right. There was no response. "S-s-sugar Belle?," she asked a little more urgently.

With nothing but silence, Fluttershy reached out the find the caterer's warm fur, but could only feel damp, dusty cardboard. She whirled around, checking each direction, but every way she turned just led to more old boxes.

Panic rose in Fluttershy's chest. Her breathing became quick and heavy.

"HEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Sugar Belle winced at her cry as she descended down the stairs. She took another quick glance at the note in her hoof. She had felt it being placed behind her ear as the group had gathered, right before splitting up again.

 _Meet me in Billiard Room. Tell nopony._

The writing was scrawled and messy. It was familiar to Sugar Belle, but she couldn't place her hoof on who it was from. It was short and curt, drawing in the curious Sugar Belle.

Still, mysterious messages would now always make her wary. They were the reason she was in this mess in the first place.

She quickly slipped into the dark Billiard Room, silently closing the door behind her. Though the room was dark, she could see the shape of a pony in the shadows, and hear their deep breathing.

"D-did you send the note?," squeaked Sugar Belle. The shadowed pony was silent, but she could still see a nod. "W-what did you want to s-say?," continued Sugar Belle.

The figure made several noises, the beginnings of words. Sugar Belle waited, her hooves shaking from the cold winds, and from her frozen blood.

A glimmer of orange light appeared where the mysterious figure stood. Her eyes drawn to it, Sugar Belle paled when she saw the shape of an apple.

"N-" she started to cry out, but a blast of orange magic wrapped around her head before she could finish. The magic seeped through her ears, under her eyes- any opening it could find. She felt it tickle her brain with its cold tendrils. Her shock, her fear, they both melted away, and her consciousness soon followed.

She landed on the floor with a thud, the rope of magic fading from visible sight. Her eyes were grey, open still with a shocked expression.

Her attacker came forward. They lifted her up onto the pool table with their hooves, laying her flat. The apple-shaped gem, now glowing faintly orange, was placed onto Sugar Belle's chest.

The figure left the room quickly, not even stopping to close the door behind them.

* * *

Soarin was shivering in the cold room. The power had suddenly gone out but he still held the phone to his head, hoping it was somehow still working.

A lump was in his throat. He kept mumbling to himself, "There's only a party…power outages happen in storms…" but it couldn't dispel the cold fear that gripped his chest.

His hoof spun the rotary dial. Over and over, he dialed the same number, hoping each time that this would be the time it would ring.

As he paused to wipe sweat off his brow, the door creaked open behind him.

A pony crept through the shadows, holding a pink butterfly gem.

Soarin reached out to dial again. A pink burst of magic blinded him before his hoof could reach the phone.

He fell on the floor, his eyes grey, still holding onto the receiver.

A hoof placed the gem on his chest, the receiver back in its cradle. They quickly dashed back out the door.

* * *

Everypony's ears flicked when the doorbell rang through the house.

One pony opened the front door. Over the doorstep flew a small purple and green dragon. "DragonFire Mail!" he chirped. "Sorry, but the address you listed on your letter doesn't exist, so-"

A blast of magenta magic cut him off as it wrapped around his head.

With a thud, and an unpleasant crunch from one of his wings, he landed on the concrete.

The dogs growled at the attacker, bearing their fangs, but said attacker slammed the door before they could do anything. They walked quickly away from the door, heading back to where they were supposed to search.

* * *

Fluttershy heard the door slam. With a yell, she charged straight forward, toppling boxes as she ran. Running blind, she whipped her head back and forth, looking for a door.

When she found it, she didn't hesitate to throw it open and run down the stairs. She almost tripped over her hooves. In the hallway, she flung open the bedroom doors, shouting,

"The door slammed! I think they ran out!"

Applejack and Key Keeper followed her voice, rushing to the doors. The three hurried down the stairs. Key Keeper wasted no time, grabbing the power lever and flipping it to the up position. The mansion was filled with a light that was blinding to the ponies.

Pinkie and Rainbow quickly came to the anxious group. Pinkie bounced forward while Rainbow trudged. Her mane was disheveled, her eyes puffy and bleary, and she was wiping a strand of drool away from her mouth.

Pinkie suddenly stopped bouncing, swiveling her head with a gasp. When the others approached, they saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Sniveling, she pointed a shaky hoof to the open Billiard Room door.

The group gasped and became teary-eyed once they had gathered around the door. Sugar Belle lay flat on the pool table, eyes wide and grey, the apple-shaped gem glowing brightly. Pinkie loudly sobbed in the background.

As Fluttershy reached out a hoof to comfort her, a low, wailing moan came from the Library. Rushing in, they saw Rainbow standing over Soarin- unconscious, another victim of the dark magic. Though she quickly and repeatedly rubbed at her eyes, tears streamed down her face, an unstoppable river.

Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow came outside the rooms. The three clung to each other, all crying- Pinkie wailed, Fluttershy whimpered, and Rainbow sobbed. Applejack's eyes were full of sorrow, but she did not join the crying mass, instead offering each mare a consoling pat.

Key Keeper checked each of the rooms and victims, then headed towards the front doors. Applejack noticed this and gave him a stern look. He ignored it and threw open the doors. "Applejack, why don't you track…" he trailed off once he looked down.

Everypony came over to him, their eyes still wet. Fresh tears threatened to spring from their eyes at the sight of the young-looking dragon before them. Key Keeper and Applejack just stared solemnly at the poor unconscious drake.

Key Keeper turned his head towards Applejack. Once she noticed, she spat at him, "There's no tracks. And nopony could fly or walk in a storm like this, anyway." The winds shrieked, as if to prove her point. "In fact, we should bring him inside before he catches cold."

With that, Applejack promptly scooped the small thing into her hooves and carried him to the Study. Key Keeper grumbled and huffed as she placed him gingerly on the sofa.

Once she was done, carefully placing him so as to not disturb his injured wing, he started, "Now, I believe I know-" A loud BANG interrupted him. The ponies all rushed out of the room to see what had happened.

The bang had been the cellar door bursting open. Rarity rushed out, her blue eyes wide, her white face seeming even paler than normal. She was shuddering, staring ahead as though gazing into a void. The group, sans Key Keeper, gathered around her, trying to revive her and get her to tell them what happened.

Their ears perked as a creaking came from the cellar stairs. After some seconds that felt like an eternity for them, an exhausted Twilight came over the top of the stairs. Her horn was red and smoking, her knees shaking, her eyelids drooping under heavy pressure.

But she still kept her horn alight, straining to do so, determination etched across her face. With a final burst of magic, she flung what she had been carrying onto the floor and their hooves. The strain of magic gone, she crumpled to the floor, her consciousness fading in and out.

Everypony gave a true gasp of fear when Twilight brought forth her discovery.

Sitting before them was a unicorn skeleton and shattered gemstone.


	14. The Events of the Night

Everypony began freaking out. Rarity was still in shock. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were hyperventilating, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash had become completely pale. Twilight moaned from her place on the floor, tears leaking out from her eyes.

She cried out when, with a burst of green magic, she was sent flying to Applejack's side. Applejack staggered on her hooves, but quickly found her balance and supported the semi-conscious Twilight. Key Keeper glared at the group. "As I was saying," he started, "I know who did it." Rarity snapped out of her shock, turning her head to glare back at him.

"Key Keeper!," she shouted. "I know our situation is bad, but isn't the fact that there was a skeleton in the basement a little more pressing?" The others nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy spoke up, "This is really bad. This was an actual murder." She whimpered.

Key Keeper glanced around the group and sighed. "I apologize. But the skeleton is likely just another crime of QC. But we still have six victims whose attacker is unknown." He gave a small smirk. "Except that I have figured it out."

The others gasped and gathered around him. He straightened up, using his magic to smooth creases in his suit. "But, to understand what happened and why, we will need to go through the nights events step by step." He walked slowly towards the Library door.

He held a hoof out, gesturing into the room. "Sugar Belle was in here, preparing snacks and drinks. And in the Kitchen," he pointed a hoof in that direction, "Coco was preparing dinner. And I was in the Hall, waiting for all of you to arrive."

He pointed towards Rainbow. "You arrived first. I brought you to the Library, after we discussed pseudonyms. You met Sugar Belle, and I went back to the Hall."

He whirled around to point at Applejack, "You arrived next."

Applejack grunted, helping the now-conscious Twilight steady herself on her hooves. "Yeah, ah did. Does this have a point?"

Ignoring her, he continued, "I explained how I was the butler, as I led you here."

He smirked. "But I noticed that when you met Sugar Belle, your smile became just a little tighter at its corners."

A small blush appeared on Applejack's cheeks. "W-what's your point?"

Key Keeper shrugged and said, "Anyway, to keep a long story short…"

"A little late for that," grumbled Rainbow.

 _"Anyway,_ one by one, you all arrived. Then, Coco rang the dinner gong, and we all went to dinner."

He rushed away from the Library, pushing between Applejack and Twilight. Twilight fell over, her legs still weak. Applejack helped her back up, and the group rushed after Key Keeper.

They found him in the Dining Room, walking around the table and muttering about where they had all sat. He looked up at the group in the doorway. "Here, you met QC, and revealed you had all received a letter. But there is more then that." He looked directly at Rarity.

"You unintentionally revealed that you knew the cook. At dinner, you said the meal was one of your favorite dishes." Everypony looked confused.

Rarity protested, "Well, it could have simply been a coincidence!"

Key Keeper stated blankly, "While fish is a popular meal in Abyssinian culture, it is not often to be found in Canterlot…or anywhere in Equestria." Rarity opened her mouth, but closed it with a small blush.

The group looked ill. Fluttershy especially, her entire face turning green. "F-fish?," she squeaked, "W-w-we ate _fish!?"_ Rarity paused, then gave a small nod. Fluttershy flew out of the room, holding a hoof to her mouth, her face still green.

Key Keeper rushed back out the door. "After dinner, we went to the Study."

Twilight, exhausted and falling behind, panted, "Can't we just…sit down and talk about what happened?" Key Keeper entered the Study, ignoring her. As he stopped in front of the desk, Fluttershy slowly came into the room, her face pale.

"We discussed your blackmail, and you became angry at QC. He went to get his suitcase from the Hall, and gave you the presents–the gems." He walked over to the light switch. "He explained what they were, and then switched out the lights!"

With that, he turned the lights off. Fluttershy yelped. Rarity groaned in frustration, and used her magic on the light switch, dispelling the darkness with electric light.

Eyebrows were raised when everypony saw Key Keeper kneeling down on the floor. "QC lay here, in this same spot, seemingly attacked with a gem."

"He was!," protested Twilight. "I examined him. With a physical and magical diagnosis, both showing positives of a magically induced coma and total mid-mind transfer." Seeing blank looks on the others' faces, she explained, "He looked like he was in a coma, and my tools recorded high magic levels."

Key Keeper quickly got up and pointed an accusing hoof at her. "If _that_ was the case, Miss Sparkle, then why was he attacked later with another gem- and given several injuries? For that matter, if the star gem–your gem–had been used, how did you get power from it later?"

Twilight sat on her haunches. "Alright, so I made a mistake. My tool readings could have been incorrect, but how could he physically–" She groaned, placing a hoof to her forehead in frustration. "Ugh. Of course, he was a changeling. Even if he couldn't keep up an illusion forever, he could still put up an illusion for a time!" She groaned louder, burying her face into her hooves.

"Exactly," confirmed Key Keeper. "He would have realized he was the target of the gem, not me. After it missed, he still pretended to have been hit–so that he could later escape."

He walked over to Rarity. "Then, you drank the water, we suspected poison, you screamed, etcetera. It wasn't poisoned, so no major event there."

Rarity gasped, and huffed, "Well, major or no, I think the event was quite traumatic for me. So–"

Key Keeper cut her off, saying, "But then, there was more screaming! Sugar Belle, in the Billiard Room!" He rushed out, the others following, Rainbow and Applejack rolling their eyes.

He leaned against the edge of the pool table. "Yes, we had all rushed here," he said as they gathered at the entrance. "All except one." Everypony gasped, their eyes widening with surprise.

"Oh yes," he continued, "One of you, as the rest of the group was leaving the Study, grabbed the diamond gem off of the floor. They rushed down the hall, and attacked the cook." He rushed out of the room, pushing past the group, who groaned as they followed him.

In the Kitchen, he opened the freezer and pulled on one of the hooks. The others gasped as the back opened on unseen hinges. Pinkie chirped, "Hey, that's the passage I found earlier!" She glared at Key Keeper suspiciously. "How did _you_ know it was there?"

Key Keeper stated, "I've worked here for years. I've known this whole time." He explained, "The cook's attacker would use this secret passage to get to the Study, where they would join the rest of the group without arousing any suspicions."

Fluttershy piped up, "Wait. If you knew about this passage the whole time, couldn't you have done this?" The rest of the group mumbled and nodded.

Key Keeper scoffed. "Please. If I was the attacker, why would I tell you how I did it?" Fluttershy opened her mouth, holding up a hoof, but closed her mouth and began to scuff at the ground. The others stopped mumbling.

Key Keeper continued on, "So Sugar Belle joined our group. And we rushed here, where the unconscious cook fell out of the freezer!" He stood up on his back hooves and fell backwards to demonstrate. Fluttershy had been right next to him, and ended up being pushed onto the ground. He landed on top of her, and continued to talk. "And after that, I told you all about QC, and who he was."

Rainbow stepped forward. "Wait a minute," she said, rubbing at her temples, "Why was the cook attacked in the first place? She didn't have anything to do with any of this."

Key Keeper got back up onto his hooves, ignoring Fluttershy, who was struggling to get back on her hooves. "Haven't you figured it out yet?," he asked. "Everypony here tonight had something to do with this. Everypony was either QC's victim…or his unwitting accomplice."

With everypony's eyes on him, he began to pace. "QC could get close to ponies, had methods of learning their secrets… or rather, the secrets of the ponies they knew. Each pony that was here tonight gave QC some information about one of you."

Rarity helped Fluttershy up, as Rainbow stepped forward again. "So whoever–" "No time!," cut off Key Keeper, who was rushing out the door again. Everypony trotted after him, giving groans of frustration.

In the Study, he stood next to the painting. "Now, while I had been telling you about QC, one of you snuck through the same secret passage, saw the undisguised QC get up, and chased him down the hall. After being struck with the dark spell, he was dragged to the restrooms."

He came to the open cupboard. "I placed the unused, potentially dangerous artifacts in the cupboard. You urged me to throw away the key, and so to the front door we went!" He pushed past the group, who grumpily trundled after him.

"But as I was about to throw the key away, there was Scootaloo! In shock, I dropped the key. Before I could pick it up, somepony–anypony in the huddle–picked it up and switched it with a fake key." He smirked at the group. "So you see, it would have been safer on my key…ring…" The whole group was giving him glares that could have melted diamonds.

Wiping his brow, he continued, "W-well, the young pegasus was another informant of QC's. I invited her, as well as Soarin and the dragon, in the hopes that I could tell them about how they were involved in the plot, too, and could help press charges against QC. But I couldn't involve anypony in this…this scandal of dark magic."

Pinkie piped up, "What kind of secrets could that mean changeling get from such a young pony?" With this, Rainbow flopped on the nearby couch with a groan, holding her head in her hooves.

"Scoots was…well, she was just a civilian, not part of the Wonderbolts, but… she came with us a lot, wanting to help us. Wanting to help _me."_ Tears welled up in her eyes, and she choked out, "She was like a sister to me. We were close. That's how she found out…"

With a snivel, she started, "Well, about a lot of things. About my narcolepsy. My embarrassing relationship with my parents. I wasn't blackmailed for those things, but the thing I was blackmailed for was… I sent letters about our planned attacks to a friend of mine in Griffonstone. That's why every place we went to was empty."

The others' mouths were agape. Rainbow sobbed, "I sent those letters to Gilda to keep her safe. I didn't know she'd tell everypony else in the area. I didn't know I would get caught, either. I made Scoots promise to not tell anypony else. I never thought of her telling the blackmailer. She couldn't have! We might have parted ways, but I know she wouldn't break… she wouldn't have…"

Rainbow hid her face in her hooves. Fluttershy and Pinkie sat next to her, giving her consoling pats on the back. "It's okay," Fluttershy said softly, "Key Keeper said QC had methods of getting secrets from ponies. I'm sure Scootaloo kept that secret with her."

Rarity huffed. "Well, what if the griffons hadn't just left the area? What if they had attacked?" Applejack roughly jabbed her in the ribs as Rainbow tried to muffle a louder sob. Rarity closer her mouth, looking chagrined.

"What about… Soarin?," panted Twilight, who was looking less pale. Rainbow wiped her eyes and looked up. "Soarin never found my secrets. He had left before he would have been able to find out about…" her head bowed again, her eyes red and puffy.

Pinkie raised her hoof. "I knew him," she confessed. "He came by my party business every once in a while. He really loved Sugar Belle's pies." Her ears drooped. "I think he was supposed to inspect us. But he would leave after we gave him a pie. I think he fudged our reports." She fell onto her knees, gripping the front of Key Keeper's jacket. "I didn't mean to bribe anypony! It's all an honest mistake!"

Key Keeper looked annoyed and tried to push her off. Applejack pulled her onto her hooves, leaving Twilight to steady herself on her own hooves. "Oh sugarcube," she assured, "We all can understand honest mistakes. We all know you're too sweet to mean any harm."

Pinkie sniveled, her lip curling into a wobbly pout. Waterfalls of tears poured from her eyes as she gave Applejack a non-crushing hug. "T-t-that's one of the nicest things anypony's ever said to me-he-he!," she bawled. Applejack blushed in embarrassment, but gave the bawling pony a small pat on the back.

Rainbow's head perked up as Fluttershy also left her side. She followed her as she approached Twilight, who was staring at the door to the Study, a pained look etched across her face. "What is it, Twilight?," whispered Fluttershy.

Not seeming to hear her, Twilight shambled to the door as quickly as she could with her weakened legs. The whole group followed, Pinkie drying her eyes with a swipe of her hoof.

They paused in the doorway as Twilight fell to her knees in front of the dragon. Tears quietly flowed down her cheeks. "Oh Spike," she whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't find you. I'm sorry I couldn't give you w-wings… or be there for you when you got them. I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe."

She cradled him in her hooves, and placed a small kiss on his forehead. The others watched quietly, eyes becoming damp, not daring to disturb the two.

Key Keeper cleared his throat. "I do hate to break up a moment, but shall we continue?" Twilight looked guilty and reluctantly pulled herself away from Spike. He continued, "Well, after Scootaloo came, we split up on Rainbow's suggestion."

Rainbow rubbed at the back of her neck. "Yeah, that probably wasn't such a great–"

"The attacker used the key to unlock the cupboard and take the lightning gem." Pinkie broke in, crying, "That's when we found Scootaloo in the Lounge unconscious!"

Key Keeper grunted and started again, pacing towards the Lounge, "Sugar Belle took the star gem and gave it to Twilight. After using it to unlock the door–" a chunk of charred wood fell from the gaping hole where there was once a doorknob "–the gem was dropped on the floor, over there. You'll notice that it is not there any longer."

As the others murmured and stared, he continued on. "Before we could split up again, the doorbell rang." Everypony turned their heads, expecting it to suddenly ring out.

Key Keeper, glad to be uninterrupted, said, "This was Soarin. He and Rainbow had their moment, and then I put him in the Library. Until–"

The doorbell fiercely rang. Key Keeper gave out a sound of frustration, somewhere between a grunt and a scream. Rarity gasped. "Oh, they have to get away from here before they get tangled in all this!" She ran towards the doors quickly throwing it open.

On the porch stood a grey unicorn stallion with a black mane and red eyes. "Hello!," he greeted. "I'm looking for somepony."

Rarity stepped forward. "They're probably not here. You have to go, now! If you stay here–" Key Keeper slammed the front door shut, relocking it with his keys.

"What are you doing?," cried Rarity.

Key Keeper snapped, "I'm trying to go over all the clues that point to whoever did this! We don't have time for distractions!"

Applejack stepped forward to say something, but was silenced by a glare from Key Keeper. He ranted, "Pinkie made Soarin think it was a party, and bribed him with pie! He went back to the Library, we split up again, and somepony switched out the lights!"

He marched over and slammed the lever to the power down.

Rarity groaned in frustration, and both Pinkie and Fluttershy yelped. Applejack cried out, "Quit messin' around and turn the lights on! You're the one who's wastin' time!"

Rainbows eyes, shrouded by darkness, began to droop closed. They flew open suddenly as the lights flared back up with a snap.


	15. What Really Happened

"Now, what happened next?," posed Key Keeper as the lights flicked back on. The others glared at him: all but Rainbow, who blinked her eyes blearily. She leaned over to Pinkie.

"Am I actually awake?," she whispered. Pinkie's response was to reach over and pinch Rainbow's forehoof. Rainbow yelped, then begrudgingly thanked Pinkie. "How long was I out? Because I just had two pretty crazy dreams. In the first, you and Sugar Belle—"

"The lights were out for less than a minute, Miss Dash," Key Keeper interjected dryly, "And even so, there isn't time to go over your dreams." He turned to the rest of the group. "In the dark, there were three more attacks, and Twilight discovered a skeleton. We can't solve the mystery of the skeleton, but we can figure out which of us attacked tonight's victims."

He began to pace. "The important thing to remember is that the gems are dark magic. Twilight, what can you tell us about dark magic?"

Twilight, who was sitting down, said breathily, "Well…it corrupts the user with prolonged use, but it also feeds off of corruption. Anger and other negative emotions tend to fuel it, and it fuels those emotions. With the gems, if someone felt very angry or sad as they held it, with those emotions towards a particular pony or creature…they might go off."

Key Keeper approached her. "And is that just conjecture, or is there a reason you say they could go off unintentionally? QC never said anything about it, so what do you know?"

Twilight squirmed under his glare.

Seconds passed before she blurted out, "I attacked QC, okay? It was me!"

* * *

Seconds ticked by slowly as they stood in the dark Study. The gems pulsed with a sickly light. Twilight's grip on her gem tightened as the same thought echoed in her head again.

 _He's the one who took Spike away._

Of course, she tried to tell herself that wasn't at all true—the school administrators had been the ones to take him. But he had found out about Spike, blackmailed her for it, making her think of that moment she saw Spike leaving her over and over and over—

And her thoughts seemed so jumbled, the gem growing hotter in her hoof as her anger burned brighter, she was just so mad at QC for what he did—!

A beam of magic shot from her gem towards QC. The lights came on.

Of course she lied, saying somepony had tried to grab it from her. And she lied again when she saw QC had an illusion up. She knew the others wouldn't understand the results her tools gave anyway.

Because even though she had dropped the gem, it still seemed to cling to her mind, telling her QC had blocked it, how [i]dare[/i] he, that the job was left unfinished.

When they left the room, she glanced down at the changeling suspiciously.

* * *

Twilight snuck out of the Kitchen through the secret passage as Key Keeper started his story. A simple spell, and she could continue to hear everything said in the room in her right ear. She was only half-focused on listening, though, as her mind was set on finishing the job.

As she creaked open the painting in the Study, she planned on how to sneak up to QC. As she thought about this, QC's chassis twitched, his illusion fading. He swiftly got up and left the room. Twilight followed, grabbing the nearest gem- the balloon one- and following him.

He was heading towards the Kitchen—to where the others were. Twilight felt a surge of protective anger in her, and she shot a draining spell at QC. It struck his shoulder, the additional magic burning it. With a hiss, he turned around. Seeing Twilight with one of the gems, his eyes widened with fear, and he fled.

Twilight gave chase, striking him with spells to mute his voice and drain his magic. Fueled by anger, they all burned him where they landed on his chassis. Twilight lifted the gem with her magic, and this time, the magic struck its target, wrapping around the writhing changeling's brain.

Twilight collapsed, panting. At first, she felt proud. But them, she felt sick, and disappointed in herself. QC was evil, and Key Keeper's story didn't change her mind on that, but this action made her no better than him.

She sat there in shock for a time, but soon realized Key Keeper was almost done with his story. Thinking quickly, she threw QC into the restrooms, the nearest place to hide him, putting the balloon gem on top of the doorframe, and hurrying back to the Kitchen.

* * *

Twilight's eyes were lowered, downcast. "I don't know if that darkness was in me to begin with, or placed in me by the gems," she told the group sadly. "But wherever it came from, I gave into it. Like I said, I'm really no better than QC."

Fluttershy came up to her, and Twilight lowered her head even more. To everypony's surprise, Fluttershy reached down and tightly hugged her. "Maybe you gave in," she said, "But you regret your actions now. In that way, you're better than him. He reveled in evil. You regret it." Twilight sniffed, and began to sob into the pegasus's shoulder.

The others all gathered around, giving her their silent support. All but Rainbow, who kept her distance and said, "So…she's the one who did all of this?"

Twilight sobbed and shook her head, and the rest of the group protested. Rarity huffed, "Honestly, Rainbow, how could you think this poor mare attacked six ponies—creatures—one who was like family to her—" Twilight blushed and lowered her head at that. "—when attacking just one makes her feel like this? There's no way it was all her!"

Key Keeper stepped forward. "You would certainly know that, wouldn't you, Mrs. Rarity Dapperpaws?"

Rarity's face paled, turned red, and paled again. "I-I have no idea what you mean to say, Mr. Key Keeper," she stammered.

"Oh, don't you? Who was the next victim of the night? And who was your employee as you and Capper committed your crimes? Dare I say there is some connection there?"

Rarity's knees trembled and her lip wobbled. "Coco was a dear friend of mine. I would never want to hurt her, or feel any negativity towards her. How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" She lifted her nose up into the air.

Key Keeper smirked for a second. "Oh? The diamond gem Coco was attacked with was attached to her hoof by a very fancy-looking handkerchief." He stepped into the Study, and levitated the handkerchief out in front of them all. "White silk, with lacy fringes. Perfect for a mare of nobility, am I correct?"

"T-there's no way to prove that was mine, though!," Rarity protested.

"The fact that its style matches that of the handkerchiefs you gave to tie the gems to the other victims' hoofs?"

"A mere coincidence!"

"There's gold embroidery in the corner: RD. Rarity Dapperpaws."

"…Maybe it's Rainbow's?"

"Hey! There's no way I would ever carry anything as frilly as that thing. It's yours, so you might as well just _fess up!"_ Rainbow flew right in front of her face as she said the last words.

Rarity's lip wobbled, and she began to sob, and mascara-filled tears ran down her face. "I…I didn't want to! I didn't mean to!"

* * *

Rarity snuck away from the others as they talked with Sugar Belle. She felt bad, leaving behind somepony who was so distraught, but she had to see Coco. Even if she hadn't seen her, there was only one pony Rarity knew who could prepare fish so well, so far from Abyssinia. It couldn't be a coincidence.

She rushed into the Kitchen. Coco whirled around in fright when she heard the door open, but visibly relaxed when she saw who it was. "Rarity!," she cried, rushing forward to give her a hug.

Rarity warmly returned it, getting lost in the moment for but a second. But she quickly pulled away, placing her hooves on Coco's shoulders.

"It is fabulous to see you again, my friend, but I fear there's no time to catch up. You must leave here, right away! You are in danger!"

Coco's brows furrowed in confusion. "Rarity, what do you mean? QC might be…a bit frightening, but I've never seen him hurt anypony as long as I've been here."

Rarity pulled back a little bit. "You…you work for that scoundrel?"

Coco nervously rubbed her hooves together. "He hired me after you encouraged me to leave. I know that you didn't want me to get caught in what you and Capper were doing, but I still needed to find a line of work. QC didn't call on me often as a cook, but he tended to pay decently when he did."

Rarity placed a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I understand, Coco, but you [i]are[/i] in danger here! QC brought artifacts of dark magic, and someone used one to attack him! He's losing his memories as we speak!"

She brought out the diamond gem she had grabbed before she had left the group. The two mares felt shivers travel down their spines as they looked at its dim glow. "It takes away ponies' memories, he said," whispered Rarity. "I don't want you framed for what happened, or worse, get attacked by whoever went after QC."

Coco edged away from the gem, eyeing it suspiciously. "Even if that's the case, Rarity, I can't leave. Not when you're going to stay behind." She gave Rarity a hard look. "You're doing it again. You're sending the ponies and creatures you care about out of danger, and taking all the punishment for yourself. That's what happened with Capper, and it's happening again."

She marched over to a small Kitchen window. "I'll only leave if you go first," she announced, gesturing to the closed window.

Rarity's ears lowered. "Coco, please. The others will know I've left, but they won't notice if you do. Please just go."

"Not without you!"

"Just _go!"_

As she yelled, the gem froze against her hoof, a surge of magic shooting towards Coco. Before either of them could react, the magic had wrapped around her head, and she fell to the ground, comatose.

"Coco?," croaked Rarity, rushing over to her friend. "Oh my Celestia. Coco, I didn't mean to! Please forgive me!" She placed the gem on Coco's chest, pressing her own magic against it, trying to make it undo itself.

"Maybe Twilight knows a way!," she said. Her face quickly fell. "But nopony will believe that I didn't mean to do this. One look at this, and I'll be sent straight into the guards' hooves! I can't help poor Coco if I'm in prison! And what would happen to Capper?"

She tied the gem to Coco's hoof with the handkerchief she kept tucked in her bodice, and then levitated her into a sitting position inside the freezer. "Sorry about this, Coco. You have to stay hidden until this all blows over. Then I'll find some help for you."

As she stood over her unconscious friend, her eyes large and sad, her hoof slipped and fell against one of the hooks. To Rarity's surprise, a secret door opened! She quickly closed the freezer door and entered the passage, hoping it led outside the mansion, where she could bring Coco to safety!

…It was the Study.

At least she could catch up with the group without them having noticed her absence.

* * *

Rarity sobbed, "I wanted to say something when you found Coco, but I knew you wouldn't believe me! I know you don't believe me now!" She buried her face in her hooves, wailing.

Twilight, still looking weakened and morose, lifted her head a bit higher, her ears perking up. "…Rarity, based on my own experience, I think I believe you."

Rarity looked up. "Really, Twilight?"

Twilight nodded, continuing, "Anecdotes are not data, but your story matches mine—how your anger activated the gem, as an expression of that emotion. I'd say your story is truthful."

Applejack nodded, adding in, "Ah can tell when somepony's lyin', and both of y'all told the truth, as far as ah can sense." Pinkie and Fluttershy agreed.

Rarity smiled through her tears. "Everypony… thank you." Her smile fell into a grimace as she whirled around to glare at Rainbow. "And before you ask, Rainbow, no, I did not attack the others! Because it's just your style to accuse a grieving pony of henious crimes, isn't it?"

Rainbow rubbed at the back of her neck, descending to the ground. "No…I-I wasn't going to say anything like that." She took a deep breath in through her nose. "Key Keeper probably already figured it out, but…I have to confess, you guys."

* * *

Rainbow crept into the Lounge silently. The secret passage had looked so obvious to her, and she had been hoping it would lead her to where Scootaloo was. The young pegasus was talking on the phone and taking notes on a piece of paper.

Rainbow gripped the lightning-shaped gem in her hoof. She planned to show it to Scootaloo, explain its dark magic to her, and tell her that directions or no, she had to leave. Despite how much she wanted to spend time with this young pony who she cared for so much, Rainbow knew she had to leave before she got caught up in all this danger. She had already destroyed all the folders in the fireplace, so no one could figure out Scootaloo was associated with her.

It hurt to think about how if Scootaloo left, she might not see her again. It had been years since they parted, and Rainbow had no idea where Scootaloo lived now, or how to contact her. She shook her head, ignoring the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes.

She flinched as she stood on an older floorboard, which creaked under her weight. Scootaloo whirled around, almost dropping the phone.

Scootaloo's face lit up with happiness, and flew over to give Rainbow a hug. Her mouth opened, and Rainbow recognized that she was about to scream excitedly.

The thought filled her with bittersweet memories, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

But as sadness welled in her chest, power surged in the gem. Though Rainbow tried to drop it, its magic quickly enveloped the head of the pegasus embracing her.

Rainbow caught the crumpled Scootaloo in her hooves, and held her for several minutes in shock, before gently laying her on the ground. She carefully placed the gem on her chest, and the phone in its cradle, all while whispering, "I'm sorry," under her breath.

She repeated it as she flew back down the secret passage, until she caught up with Pinkie.

* * *

Rainbow kept her head lowered. "I…I think that sadness did it. That's a negative emotion, too. Right, Twilight?"

Twilight nodded. Her tears had dried up, now. "Anger, sadness…fear, even…they're all classified as negative emotions, and can have some connection to dark magic."

Rarity huffed as she dried her eyes, "Still, I can't believe you would accuse Twilight of attacking everypony when you knew you had committed your own crime!"

Rainbow grumbled, "Like you said, nopony would believe that I hadn't meant to do it. But Applejack can attest to me telling the truth, right?"

Applejack stayed silent, her hat throwing her eyes into shadow. "Uh, Applejack?," said Rainbow, who began to sweat bullets.

Applejack sighed and lifted her head. "Ah'm sorry," she said. "Ah can't act as some beacon of truth when ah haven't been truthful myself."

She walked over to the Billiard Room door, gazing sadly at Sugar Belle. "Ah didn't say it earlier, but…Ah think Sugar Belle was the one QC got my secrets from. She was married to my brother." As the other ponies murmured among themselves, she continued, "And Ah'm the pony who attacked her."

The others gasped.

* * *

Applejack waited in the shadows of the Billiard Room. She had wanted to talk to Sugar Belle in private, so had slipped her a hastily-written note. The lights suddenly turning off seemed like the perfect opportunity to slip away from Key Keeper.

Emotions were roiling inside of her chest. Memories of how difficult farm life seemed to become after Big Mac had gotten married and left the farm. Of course, she never blamed the happy couple for this, but the work seemed to pile up.

And when she had gotten those stallions and her old friend to help her, the guilt ate at her. Applejack knew Sugar Belle had figured it out a while back, even if she didn't say anything. The way she would avoid looking her in the eyes, how she would steer conversations away from farm work…

But Applejack invited her in here, and they were going to have a mature, adult conversation about this, and clear up any bad feelings. She took in a sharp breath when she heard the door creak open, and watched as the unicorn came in.

"D-did you send the note?," squeaked Sugar Belle. Applejack stayed quiet, but gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "W-what did you want to s-say?," continued Sugar Belle.

Applejack didn't know how to start. _I know that you know what I did. Do you dislike me? Can we discuss out feelings rationally?_ Nothing seemed right. She opened and closed her mouth over and over as emotions rose inside of her: The sadness of her brother leaving, the stress of work, the guilt of what she did.

Feeling tired, she placed a hoof on the pool table. She was briefly surprised when she touched something that wasn't the green felt…something cold and smooth…

As it glowed a bright orange, her eyes widened in horror. Fear rose in her, and a burst of magic shot out towards Sugar Belle. She was unconscious before she could even cry for help.

Stunned, Applejack lifted her up onto the pool table, carefully placing the gem on her chest. She didn't understand. She was shocked. She quickly trotted out of the room, headed back upstairs, trying to figure out what had happened.

* * *

"Ah understand that ma conflicting emotions must've set off the gem. What ah _still_ don't understand is why that gem was there in the first place," finished Applejack, taking her hat off and holding it to her chest.

"Perhaps there is something deeper going on here than we had thought," murmured Twilight, glancing at the skeleton and shuddering. "Somepony could have seen you write the note, and planted the gem in advance."

"…I think that happened in my case, too," said Pinkie, acting unusually quiet. Her mane had deflated, and she seemed more grey in complexation. "Soarin is…my fault, I think."

* * *

Pinkie left the Ball Room, unnoticed by the sleeping Rainbow Dash. She had seen the light switch earlier, and was planning on turning the lights back on.

As she approached the basement door, she heard around door creak open behind her. She whirled around and saw a figure enter the Library, holding something that was dimly glowing pink. Knowing Soarin was in there, she quickly galloped forward, wanting to stop the culprit before they could attack him.

But when she entered the door, there was nopony to be found. Feeling equal parts relieved and confused, she stepped towards Soarin, who was futilely dialing the phone, intending to check and make sure he was alright.

She stepped on something sharp, and she had to bite her lip to avoid giving a yelp of pain. Suddenly, a bolt of magic shot from beneath her hoof and wrapped around Soarin's head. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Pinkie ran over to make sure he was uninjured, almost dropping over the butterfly-shaped gem she had stepped on. She gently placed the gem on his chest, and the phone back into its cradle.

She ran out of the room, nursing her sore hoof, feeling guilt weigh against her neck.

* * *

"Pain and shock must have been what activated the gem in your case," said Twilight, "And somepony must have planted your gem, too."

Rainbow held up a hoof. "Wait, so you're telling me that _all_ of us used dark magic, harming ponies close to us…by complete accident. In each case."

Rarity shrugged. "It does seem unbelievable, but based on my own experiences, and what I've seen from all of you tonight, I'm willing to believe it."

Applejack coughed and said, "Well, aside from the mystery of who planted the gems, we still don't know who attacked the dragon…Spike." The whole group turned to look at Fluttershy.

After a second, she reared back and cried, "I didn't do it!"

Twilight pointed out, "You're the only one who's left, Fluttershy. We understand if you didn't mean to attack him…I'll understand."

"But I didn't do it! I swear!," cried Fluttershy. "The magenta gem was the one used to attack him, right? If it's missing, whoever has it must have attacked him!"

"Miss Fluttershy is quite right," said a calm voice from behind them. "And she is _not_ the only one left." A sudden bean of green magic struck Rainbow's right wing, and she gave out a cry of pain as smoke rose from it.

The group turned around to see Key Keeper, grinning maliciously, holding the magenta gem, along with the other five, in his green magic. "You were so busy with all your confessing and sobbing, you never noticed me leaving to get these," he sneered.

Rainbow shakily got onto her hooves, gasping with pain as Fluttershy helped her up. Applejack glared at the butler, taking a menacing step forward.

"Ah, ah, ah. Stay right where you are, Miss Applejack. If I see any sudden movements from any of you, I'll be forced to break these gems," he said, giving them a small shake with his magic. "And I think you can already see what happens then." He gestured to the skeleton and shattered gemstone.

Applejack growled and took a step back. The whole group glares harshly at the grey unicorn. "Why are you doing this?," asked Twilight. "What happened to not wanting such dark things to happen tonight?"

Key Keeper gave a dark chuckle. "QC was right about a few things. How weak and gullible you ponies are, for one. Oh, he was still a mad fool, but he was still a useful asset. Once upon a time, anyway." He shook his head. "But yes, after months of planning, you all only activated your gems by accident. I even had to actively, magically manipulate Twilight through her listening spell to goad her into giving into the dark magic," he hissed. The group gasped.

"It was taking far too long, so for the last three, I had to take matters into my own hooves. I planted the gem in the Billiard Room, because I saw Applejack write and plant that note, and I knew about her conflicting emotions. I planned to take out Soarin myself, but Pinkie was a happy coincidence. I still had to deal with that dragon, though."

Twilight's horn sparked as her glare deepened, but her magic quickly sputtered out. Key Keeper laughed at this. "I wasn't expecting you to find…my 'predecessor', as it were, but in doing so, you've used up all your magic. You and Rainbow would have been the only ones quick enough to stop me at this point, so you actually did me a huge favor! More than all of you have already done tonight."

"What do you mean?," asked Pinkie, her expression one of fury.

Key Keeper smirked. "You were invited here by 'QC'. You thought it was Quivering Chassis, but why? He had also been invited, as you recall."

Fluttershy gasped, taking several hoofsteps back. "You're…you're…"

Key Keeper gave a manic grin before her dissolved into green flames. In his place stood a towering, black, insect-like creature, with holes in her legs, green, tattered wings on her back, and a crooked, hole-filled horn on her head that was pulsing with green energy.

"Queen Chrysalis!," the ponies gasped.

She gave a manic laugh. "Yes, you fools! I was the one to bring you here! I was the one who instructed Quivering Chassis to get these gems!" She smirked at their confused expressions. "I may as well explain. It's not like you can do anything about it, at this point."

She began to pace, still keeping her eyes fixed on them. "QC was, as I said, a useful asset of mine for awhile. He supplied me with everything I needed after those fools rebelled against me," she growled. "He kept up his blackmailing operation at my behest, so that I would be able to finance myself to obtain my REVENGE!"

She cackled before continuing, "But after some time, he became unstable and sloppy. He discovered these gems a year back, and showed me how they could be used…by using one on Key Keeper. Yes, he was a real pony. QC got clumsy and smashed the gem accidentally. Of course, it was up to me to hide the body."

"But as I dug into the concrete wall of the basement, I realized that QC was becoming not just clumsy, but dangerous for me. So I formed a plan to get rid of not just him, but any loose ends that could pose a threat to me." She stopped pacing to glare at the group. "The ponies tonight were some of his closer contacts. I wasn't sure how much they knew about QC, or if they even knew anything, but I couldn't take any chances."

Fluttershy, who was quivering in fright, said, "You…you won't get away with this! The Royal Guard will capture you!"

Chrysalis smirked. "Why would they come to some random old mansion? Nopony's contacted them."

The group groaned in realization.

"But now, everything is finished. We'll stack all the unconscious creatures in the cellar, lock the gems back away in the cupboard, and leave quietly one at a time, never to return. And if any of you even thinks of mentioning this to anypony else, I'll spill not only the secrets you were blackmailed for, but about your actions here tonight." She smiled, though there wasn't any joy in her eyes, aside from a sick glee.

Fluttershy, still shaking, spoke up. "A-and you're just going to escape and do horrible things to more ponies and creatures, aren't you?"

Chrysalis laughed, throwing her head back. "Of course! You think you have any way of stopping me?"

Fluttershy shivered and took a deep breath through her nose. She planted her hooves firmly on the ground, looked the changeling queen in the eye, and answered, "Yes." She snapped both of her wings open. The bandages on her left wing were torn apart, and fell away to show a completely healthy pegasus wing.

But nopony focused on that right away, because when she opened her wings, a ball of purple energy shot out from her side, flying right into the Chrysalis' chest. The changeling was pushed back as the magic soaked into her body. She let out a furious hiss, showing her fangs, and ran towards Fluttershy.

She tripped on her first step and fell to the ground. She had fallen into a deep sleep. Applejack quickly ran over to catch the gems, while Rarity's horn lit up to hold them. They brought them over to the rest of the group, away from the sleeping Chrysalis. All of them turned to look at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy stared bashfully at the ground, shuffling the fallen bandages with her hoof. "I…I'm sorry. I'm, um, a plant. A spy." She looked up at the group shyly. "I really do work for the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures, but, um, I was called to do this by—" she shuffled her hooves. "It might be easier to show you."

She snuck over to the sleeping Chrysalis, flinching when she let out a loud snore. She grabbed the key ring that was by the changeling's side, and flew over to the doors, unlocking and opening them.

A team of six batponys, dressed in black jackets, stormed into the Hall. They each dashed into different rooms, each bringing out one of the unconscious victims in their hoofs. They laid them onto the tile floor and began checking each victim.

The ponies gasped when a regal, dark-blue alicorn entered the mansion, also wearing a black jacket. "What is the status of the victims?," she called to the batponies. The one inspecting QC stood up straight.

"Each is unconscious, but aside from QC, all are uninjured. And even he shall easily recover, Princess Luna," he reported.

At the confirmation of the name that was already in their minds, the group of ponies deeply bowed, nervous expressions on their faces. "Stand!," commanded Princess Luna. "There is no time for such formalities. While I do know the events of the night, we of the Lunar Guard will still need to question all of you."

While they all shakily got back onto their hooves and another team of batponies entered to examine the gems and put Chrysalis in chains, Fluttershy nervously walked up to the princess. "Um, Princess Luna? Where's-"

Luna sighed. "He is currently in a 'time-out' after those stunts he tried to pull tonight. Him calling the mansion I could perhaps overlook, but actually going up to the door! He is in very big trouble this time."

Cries came from outside the mansion. "Sir, stop!" "Princess Luna said—" "Sir, the perimeter around the mansion—" Luna groaned and rolled her eyes when a grey unicorn—the same one who had earlier appeared on the porch—dashed in through the front doors, running towards Fluttershy.

The two quickly met in a tight hug. "Missed you," he moaned into her shoulder.

She giggled. "It's only been a few hours."

"A few hours where I was constantly on edge for your safety. I don't care if Prissy Princess is mad about me trying to check on you, I'm mad at her using you for this."

Luna coughed into her hoof. "I thought I told you to stay outside."

The grey unicorn huffed. "Well, first, see what I just said. Second, you can't tell me what to do! I'm in charge here, just as much as you!"

Luna sighed and shook her head. "We are still having a discussion about your behavior tomorrow. Don't expect me to be lenient on finding a punishment."

The grey unicorn rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Fluttershy. He pulled her closer to him, and began leaning in the kiss her. She stopped him with a hoof and shook her head. "No disguises, sweetheart."

Rainbow leaned over to Applejack and whispered, "Sweetheart?" Applejack could only shrug.

Their jaws dropped as they saw the unicorn's horn light up and magic cover his body. His skin shivered and shifted like liquid, before finally sliding off, revealing a very different figure underneath. Tall, skinny, and standing on his mismatched hind legs, with mismatched arms at his sides and mismatched horns on his head.

"Much better," he said, stretching his arms and popping his neck. He scooped Fluttershy up in his arms and leaned in again for a kiss, which she gladly gave this time. Luna rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile at the corner of her lips.

The other ponies could only look on in confusion. Applejack stepped forward and spoke up, "Ah think we all deserve an explanation here." The others loudly agreed.

Fluttershy pulled out of her liplock, which her partner grumbled about. She blushed and rubbed her hooves together. "W-well, you see, the Lunar Guard had figured out that QC was working for Queen Chrysalis. When a spying spell found out about her plan, Princess Luna thought it would be the perfect time to capture her."

The creature holding her huffed, "I told her that I could go in any time and grab her, but noooo, she had to come up with some convoluted plan."

Luna glared and said, "Discord, you agreed with the plan. You were the one who came up with most of it, and who designed that sleeping spell! You only started complaining about it when we figured your wife would be best at infiltrating the mansion!"

Pinkie questioned, "Wife?" Fluttershy blushed and waved at the group, while Discord gave a nod of his head towards her, expression neutral. The ponies' eyes widened, and they opened their mouths to ask questions.

Luna rose a hoof, and they all closed their mouths. "I understand you still want answers. And you will get them, but you will all need to come with us for physical and mental evaluations, as well as questioning."

The batponies had placed the gems in sealed containers, and the victims on stretchers. All were being taken outside, as well as the tightly-chained Chrysalis. Another group came over to the five of them, and simply gestured for them to follow.

Four of them did so, slowly walking out the front doors. Pinkie whispered to one of the Guard, "Psst. Can I take my wagon with me?"

The guard raised an eyebrow before saying, "Sorry, miss. It has to stay here for now for the investigation of the mansion, but we will get it back to you." Pinkie whined, but followed the other four ponies outside.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief. "Fluttershy, I must commend you—" She turned only to find the spot where Discord and Fluttershy had been was now empty. She whirled to the front doors, where Discord was trying to sneak out without her notice.

"Discord!," she snapped. The draconequus froze in place, sweating nervously as Luna glared at him. The princess' expression lightened, though, and she said, "You…despite your conduct, you and Fluttershy were a big help in this matter." She smiled. "We'll talk about said conduct tomorrow. You two go spend the night together."

Discord opened him mouth, maybe to thank her, but never got the chance to say anything. Fluttershy leaned up to kiss him, wrapping her hooves around his neck, moaning softly. During the second Discord froze in surprise, her hooves began to gently trail down his back. With a moan similar to Fluttershy's, Discord snapped his fingers, and the two disappeared in a flash of light.

Pinkie turned to the rest of the group, who all had wide eyes and open jaws. "See, Twilight? Now _that's_ a make out session."

* * *

 **The End!**

 **...Or not, because there's an epilogue!**

 **A lot of notes: When I was writing this, I just couldn't make anyone intentionally attack the victims. That's also why I didn't make the three endings, though i did reference them- because I couldn't make Pinkie or Rarity evil. I think most of you figured out who the real QC was already. Those of you who've seen the movie knew Fluttershy wouldn't be ace, and a look at my other stories on this site probably told you who she would be in a relationship in thus scenario.**


	16. Epilogue

"I…I really do hope you can forgive me, Coco," mumbled Rarity, wringing her hooves together. Capper placed a comforting paw on her shoulder.

Coco, who was in a hospital bed, laughed softly. "Don't worry, Rarity. I'm not angry at all."

"But…Darling, I attacked you! And in the end, I couldn't keep you out of what happened with Capper and I!"

"And you didn't mean to. I can't be angry when all you've wanted is to protect me." Coco smiled. "Besides, I've been able to talk with the other victims of the night. They're all very nice creatures, and we've had a nice stay here, after they moved Quivering Chassis to the mental ward."

Rarity lowered her head. "How long…"

"Just a few more days, they said. This week has mostly been them just keeping an eye on us, making sure we remember everything about ourselves. Even with both heads of the Lunar Guard reversing the gems, they don't want to take any chances."

Rarity sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."

Capper tapped her on the shoulder. "Rarity, it's almost 9:30."

She gasped. "Oh, goodness! I almost forgot!" She turned to Coco. "I'm afraid I have to leave now. But promise me we'll get in contact with each other soon?"

Coco nodded, waving goodbye as Rarity and Capper left the Canterlot Hospital.

Rarity looked up to her husband as they walked along. "You don't need to come with me, you know. I'm the one they assigned this too."

Capper's ears went back as he responded, "I'm coming because I want to help. I couldn't help you when you were being blackmailed over what _I_ did, so I'm going to help now. Especially since I know what's going on."

Rarity sighed. "I'm sorry, Capper. I didn't tell you about that awful business because I…I didn't want you to worry."

"And how do you think I felt last week, when the Lunar Guard called to say, 'We have your wife, come get her'?"

Rarity lowered her head. "I…I am truly sorry. I…I promise I won't hide anything anymore."

A pause of silence. Then, Capper swept her into his arms, lightly kissing her lips. Her saddened expression dropped as she laughed, playfully pushing him away.

"Capper, we're going to be late!"

"Oh, we already are. What's a few more minutes?"

* * *

Fluttershy paced, her expression nervous. "Oh, I hope she didn't get lost on her way here."

Twilight looked up from the list she was reading. "That's highly unlikely, Fluttershy. This is a fairly well-known institution in Canterlot."

Fluttershy whimpered, "But then…What if she ran into some kind of trouble? And we don't even know while we're waiting here!" Her pacing became faster.

Discord flew over and scooped her up into his arms, crushing her against his chest. "She's _fine,_ Flutters," he groaned. "What did we talk about?"

She blinked up at him. "How you need to stop pranking new members of the Lunar Guard?"

"Wha—I told you I stopped doing that! I mean about what did we talk about concerning _you?"_

"Oh. That, um, that I s-shouldn't worry so much? That I need to let go of my anxiety?"

"Bingo!" With a flick of his tail, confetti showered on the pair, and applause came from nowhere. "Rarity will be here any minute, and then you'll see there was no reason to worry."

The door creaked open, and a flush-faced Rarity and Capper walked in. "Sorry we're late!," said Rarity, smoothing out the hem of the simple lavender dress she wore. "I lost track of time visiting Coco, and then we got distracted."

Capper smirked.

Fluttershy jumped out of Discord's hold. "Well, now that everyone's here, we can get started." She looked around the room. "I'm…very grateful that you all chose to volunteer for the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures. I really do appreciate all your help."

Applejack smiled. "Aw, shucks. Ah figured working here would be a good chance to see you again. Besides, this place was named multiple times in the program for community service. Seemed like they really wanted us to be here."

Fluttershy blinked. "Multiple—" She whirled around to face Discord. "Discord, you change those programs back to how they were!"

Discord raised his hands to protest. "The other things are still listed! I just tried to give ponies a little extra nudge in this direction!"

Fluttershy sighed. "I know you like to help, but I'd feel awful if some other organization didn't get the help they needed, while we got too many ponies to know what to do with. Please change those programs back."

Discord sighed and snapped his fingers. "Honestly, I just wanted you to have some more hooves on hand to prepare for the migration of the Breezies."

Fluttershy smiled. "I know you do. And I appreciate it, but I'm sure other organizations have big things to prepare for, too." She reached up to gently pat his paw.

Rainbow gagged. "Ugh, can we just start working without all this mushy stuff? Bleh."

Fluttershy pulled away with a light blush on her face. "Right, of course. Well, the main thing we need to do is prepare signs for the Breezies' migration route, so ponies can know to stay clear. Discord, could you—" She turned around to see him holding a large pile of supplies. "Oh, thank you. And we're out of the way enough, so we can make as many signs as we possibly can."

After distributing supplies and giving instructions on what the signs should say, the eight creatures began to work. Twilight turned to Discord.

"I know you and Luna began the Lunar Guard together, but the history books don't say much beyond that. Could you tell me any details? I'm very curious."

Discord shrugged. "Not much to tell, really. So here's how it went." He lifted his hands, which had sock puppets of Luna and Celestia on them.

The Celestia puppet said, " _Discord is causing chaos through the land! We must find a way to stop him, even though we are terribly weak compared to him!_ "

The Luna puppet responded, " _I agree, but I'm secretly sick with envy over how you are always hailed as the victor with your plans, and the ponies like the day more than the night!_ "

Discord lowered the Celestia puppet, and raised his tail to show a sock puppet of himself on it. The Luna puppet said, " _I want to best my sister. Instead of defeating you, I shall use your powers for the benefit of Equestria! What if I gave you a position of authority in a new organization I've thought up? I call it the Lunar Guard._ "

The Discord puppet responded, " _Pfft, No way. I don't listen to anypony, so if I'm gonna be in an organization, I'm in charge. Sounds boring anyway._ "

The Luna puppet replied, " _It is a crime-fighting organization. You can use your powers on vile villains without ponies getting angry at you for it. And fine, we can both be in charge_."

The Discord puppet's head perked up. _"In that case, I accept! I already have ideas for the guard uniforms…"_

The puppets disappeared with a pop. "I mean, it took longer than that, but you don't want to hear all the boring details," said Discord, leaning back. "And if you do, ask Lulu. She's better at talking about all that stuff. Paychecks, scheduling, appointments, interviews…she takes care of all that."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "And so what do you do as a leader of the organization?"

Discord smirked. "I'm the one who captures most of our targets. I'm also good at coming up with unique plans to get our ponies, our spies, into areas, and inventing undetectable spells to take out the baddies. Like last week, for example." He pulled out a bad crayon drawing of Chrysalis and a ball of energy. "I made a basic sleep spell designed to hone in on an undisguised Chrysalis, which would keep her asleep for 48 hours."

He chuckled. "You should have seen her when she woke up in maximum security prison. She was absolutely furious, screaming her head off at everyone there."

Capper looked up from his sign. "I heard most of this story from Rarity, but there's one thing I don't understand."

"One thing?," Rainbow grumbled under her breath.

"Why was Fluttershy sent in? She has no connection to the Lunar or the Royal Guard, and Rarity said you two were married."

Discord growled as he jabbed holes through his sign with a pencil, "Because dear Chrissy only invited ponies who QC blackmailed or got blackmail info from. Lulu had one of the guards let the fact Flutters was asexual "slip" to QC, who used it to blackmail her. It was only for about a month, but it was enough that Queen Cheeselegs invited her, and I think you can see the rest of the plan."

He sighed. "We also used a spell to record everything that happened that night. Now we just need to wait a few months as Goth Princess gets all the information together so both QC's can be tried in court for their crimes against Equestria."

Applejack spoke up. "What about that poor unicorn, Key Keeper?"

"And the victims of that night?," asked Rainbow.

"And how can Fluttershy be ace after last week's Very Public Display of Affection?," asked Pinkie. The others stared at her. "What? I'm curious."

Fluttershy's ears lowered. "Princess Luna found out that Key Keeper didn't have any family. He had some friends before…before QC…they're mad at themselves for not looking more into why he suddenly pushed himself more for working for QC, and they're organizing a funeral for him."

The group paused, their ears lowered.

Twilight coughed into her hoof. "Well, both changelings will pay for that crime, too."

Discord nodded. "A rather significant item on an already-long list. Treason, kidnapping, blackmail…and that's just this decade."

Twilight turned to Rainbow. "And didn't you know? All the victims are fine. They're just spending some days in the hospital to make sure everything goes well. I thought all of us had visited them already. I caught up with Spike yesterday."

Applejack raised her hoof. "Ah talked to Sugar Belle and Big Mac the day after we were all interviewed."

Pinkie nodded. "I went to see Soarin' right after our interviews with a 'Sorry I Attacked You' peach pie and a 'Get Well Soon!' apple pie!"

Rarity whispered to Capper, "I'm glad I wasn't the last pony to go and visit them."

Rainbow rubbed at the back of her neck. "It's just…I'm worried that Scoots won't…" She lowered her head.

Discord scoffed. "Please. All you ponies are just too forgiving when it comes to other ponies. A pony uses dark magic? Oh, they were sorry for it, we forgive them! A tall, dark, and handsome draconequus tries to innocently check up on his dear wife? I should have turned you to stone like Celestia said!" He crossed his arms with a scowl.

Fluttershy reached over to pat him on the shoulder. "There, there. You know Princess Luna didn't mean it like that. She apologized for that and let you do your community service here, remember?" Discord grumbled a bit, but still nodded an affirmative.

Pinkie let out a squee. "You two are _adorable!_ But like I said, how can Fluttershy be ace? Last week, she started that intense make out session that definitely heated up once you left. I thought being ace meant you weren't interested in having—"

"Pinkie!," cried Fluttershy, burying her scarlet face into her hooves. Discord leaned over to her.

"Is it alright if I tell them?," he gently asked. When she nodded, he straightened up and cleared his throat. "So the basic synopsis is this: She thought for years she was ace, and had come to terms with that, though only her close friends slash co-workers knew about it. I was in trouble for causing a little chaos among civilians, and was sent to do community service for the hundredth time, this time at a new place: The Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures."

He laughed. "Basically, Flutters saw me and turned bright red—like she is now—and tried to avoid me the whole time I was here. Once I got sick with it and confronted her, she confessed about how she was ace, or thought she was, until she saw me."

"Her friends call it odd, I call her the one pony with any good taste. Turned out she's not attracted to ponies, or dragons, or griffons, but the lovely combination of all the above." He pointed at himself, a bright grin on his face.

"Though when she was confessing that to me, I had to admit she was more attractive than most ponies. So then we talked a little more, went on some dates, eloped and had her move into my dimension last year…" He turned to Fluttershy, whose blush had died down a bit. "Did I miss anything, dear?"

She smiled. "Only how much of a sweetheart you are." Discord smiled and placed his claw over his chest. Rainbow gagged and made retching sounds.

Discord leaned against the wall. "Nopony really knows about us because A: all the news hounds are more interested in Luna than me, and B: Lulu is very good at keeping personal information about us and the organization secret. I can give her credit for that."

He quickly stood up. "Fluttershy, why don't we go out for an early lunch? The signs can wait a little, can't they?"

Fluttershy's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're right, Discord, it's almost noon. Why don't we all go out together to eat?"

Pinkie leapt to her hooves. "I could whip something up at my place! I've been trying to dial back the parties a bit, make them less crazy, and trying new things! Like being a restaurant with food other than desserts! You can tell me how I'm doing!"

She bounced out the door, the others following her path, chattering amongst themselves. Fluttershy waited so she could be the last out the door. As she closed and locked it behind her, she said to Discord, "You did very well. You answered all their questions without any pranks or japes. I'm proud of you."

He huffed, but had a small smile on his face. "You were right. They are nice ponies, and I suppose I could tolerate their presence if I had to."

She smiled. "I'm just glad you're willing to expand your friend circle a bit. Just you wait, I'm sure we can all become great friends. Now come on, we don't want to get left behind."

"We certainly don't want that, do we?" He scooped her up into his arms and rocketed towards the group of ponies, Fluttershy laughing as he did so. Naturally, they quickly caught up, and easily joined in the conversation as they continued onward.

* * *

 **The End, for real this time!**

 **I hope this epilogue answered any questions you may have had, and I hope you enjoyed reading this story!**


End file.
